When Two Worlds Collide
by SpikedRose09
Summary: In season 8 of Buffy, Buffy's powers grow when new slayers die. Feeling terrible guilt at the vampiric nature of her new superpowers, Buffy leaves Scotland and travels back to the US looking for a new home and a new normal. Buffy settles in Smallville where she meets Clark Kent. What will she do when she realizes there is more to Clark than meets the eye?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"_It makes me a vampire."_ Buffy sighed as she remembered her recent conversation with Xander. She put her head against the interior plastic window of the airplane as she thought about the last few days, the days before she decided to leave. It used to be so simple—_In every generation, there is a chosen one, she alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer. _Alone. Her alone. She would die a horrible, unnatural death and another slayer would rise. Simple. Until The First Evil showed up…again. The First was formidable with no victory in sight, so she and Willow and Xander made a plan. A plan to turn all potential slayers into slayers, to create an army to defeat The First Evil that threatened to release an army of vicious uber-vampires into the world. Willow took Buffy's essence and that of all the slayers before her and sent it out to all the women who were chosen, who had the potential. It worked. They defeated The First, Sunnydale fell into the Hellmouth, and now all the slayers, some 1500 of them operate together throughout the globe.

The immediate consequences of that battle were deeply felt. Spike. Anya. The half a dozen girls that died in action. "_Spike, I love you." _She thought that it was the right thing to say, he didn't buy it though, he wouldn't. _So damn stubborn, ugh_. He knew what he meant to her though as he burst into flames saving the world, destroying the Hellmouth—she would mourn easily knowing that they had bonded for the right reasons before he died. Now, turning all the potentials into slayers was a whole other ordeal. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It is difficult to anticipate all of the consequences for an event that has never happened before. All the battles since The First has left over two hundred girls dead—a tragedy in itself. Yet, over the last year Buffy has been getting stronger; much, much stronger. This last battle against the giant goddesses got a lot of girls killed and Buffy felt a surge of power like she had never felt before. She defeated the goddesses without a problem, she flung them around like dolls and jumped higher than ever before. She lifted a train for Christ sakes! The fun and games were short-lived.

Her newfound power came at a price higher than she had anticipated. Every time a slayer dies, a slayer that received her power from Buffy and the slayer line, her power goes back to Buffy. Not in a "Thanks for letting me borrow it!" kind of way, but in an exponential growth kind of way. Every time a slayer dies, Buffy gains their strength, their life. _"It makes me a vampire."_ Xander tried to convince her that it wasn't true, that they were entirely different things, but every time she would see a slayer around their base of operations she just knew they would find out. They would find out and be afraid of her, she would take their essence from them when they died, is that not somehow scarier than just everyday dying? Their leader essentially profiting off their dying? Buffy looked around and could not stand to be around them anymore as her guilt grew and she decided to leave.

It's not like she would be missed, everyone is settled and has their assignments. If anything, with the military tracking her all the time and calling her a terrorist with a slayer army, everyone is better off with her not around. Dawn was miserable when Buffy told her that she was leaving, but she understood and now that Buffy knew how Xander felt about Dawn, Buffy felt confident leaving her with him. Willow had her magic and Kennedy and she would always be a phone call away if Buffy was in trouble. Giles and Faith were off in London, so they wouldn't miss her. It was better this way. It had to be.

She had packed what little she had collected over the last year and booked a flight to New York. She figured going back to the states would be a good idea. She could find a small town and a new life. Buffy could be a slayer like the one she used to be, alone and independent. She would be lonely without her friends, without the gang—but it would never be like it used to be. With Spike and Anya dead, Xander in love with Dawn, Willow the all-powerful witch, Giles the watcher of 1500 slayers: yeah, it would never be the same.

"This is the pilot speaking, we have been cleared to descend into the New York, LaGuardia airport. Please stay seated with your seat belts fastened. Thank you for flying with us today, we hope you enjoy the Big Apple."

Buffy straightened and sat up in her seat. She looked around and the plane was full. All of these people without a thought to how the world really is, to how many times things out of their control have threatened their lives. These are the people she saved when she "saved the world." The people Spike saved by sacrificing himself. The people all the slayers saved when they sacrificed themselves. The people Buffy saved when she died. She never wanted recognition and certainly never expected it, but she just couldn't imagine being these people with no knowledge of how close the world has come to annihilation. Maybe they were better off not knowing. Hadn't she enjoyed being oblivious to many things just a short time ago? It wasn't bad. But now knowing what she knew, she could never turn and look the other way. She had to fight. Now that she had even more strength than she ever had, Buffy felt a responsibility to the girls whose power she was harnessing: a responsibility to save people, puppies, and historical landmarks or something.

The plane was descending and Buffy hadn't really thought about where she was going yet. She knew that staying in New York was not an option, too big and too many vampires. She had plenty of money from the nest egg she had secured to start up the base of operations in Scotland. She saved some for herself and gave a good bit to Dawn for college, everyone else was taken care of too. Buffy could really go anywhere and do anything she wanted.

By the time the plane landed and everyone was flooding into the terminal, Buffy decided to head to the car rental desk after she picked up her bags. Once she and her bags were secured in the silver Jeep Cherokee, Buffy was on the road. She hadn't given a destination to the desk, just asked for a list of places where she could return the car. She paid in cash and was on her way. As she drove the Jeep, she thought about her mom. She really missed Joyce, everyday. The year her mom died, she died too and then came back. That was a terrible year. By the end of it all, Buffy realized that her wanting to be gone was doing so much damage to Dawn who had already lost so much. They really pulled it together as a family after that. Buffy missed her mom everyday still though, she missed being in heaven with her mom, both surrounded by warmth and light and forgiveness. It was hard for her to talk about that to anyone though, since they had all had a part in bringing her back.

The road stretched in front of her as she drove towards something, she didn't know what quite yet or where. She knew it was going to be good though, somewhere small and safe and that needed someone like her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

There was never going to be anyone like him. Clark Kent hurled the hay from the back of the truck into the barn with ease. No sweat trickled down his face, no strain appeared in his neck muscles, no smile present on his lips. He was Kryptonian, an alien destined to live alone in a human world as their protector, their savior. Clark's strength, speed, and other powers set him apart from all metahumans. Despite his power and his knowledge of his origins, the last year had been a test that he had royally failed. His love for Lana Lang consumed his logic and when she died he begged Jor-el to fix it—no matter the consequences. In the replay of the day, Jonathan Kent died. His own father who had raised him to be the best man he could be, who selflessly took care of an alien. Clark is the man he is today because of his dad and he had no idea who to be without him.

With his mom taking over Jonathan's Kansas senatorial seat, Clark was alone at the farm. Chloe was off at the Daily Planet, Lana was off at school, and not that he could even look at her anyway with how guilty he felt over his dad's death. He was alone out here. He liked it. He could just be himself without anyone to answer to and no one to watch him crumble when he couldn't keep it together. No one to watch him come home with blood and dirt and ashes all over him from all the people he had saved that day. He needed this time to figure out all of the lessons his dad had try to teach him over the years so he wouldn't let his dad down again.

Clark had finished with the hay a few minutes ago and was just leaning against the truck thinking. He knew that he couldn't stay in Smallville forever, running off to save everyone around the world and coming here to work on the farm in his downtime. But this is what he needed right now. To be alone. Besides, no one could understand what it is like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders and to be destined to save the world. He would have to bear that cross alone.

It was still very early in the day and usually Clark made his way to Metropolis to save some people during lunch hour. He changed into another tight-fitting shirt and jeans and ran off to Metropolis.

When he came back later that day, his shirt was in shreds and smoke and soot covered his face and arms. There had been a particularly bad fire that afternoon in Metropolis. Clark saved everyone in the building by blowing out the fire with his super breath. There were two children crying and coughing upstairs, he brought them down to the street, to the EMTs then left before anyone could see him. He ripped the rest of his shirt off and threw it away. He took off his jeans and boots as he went up the stairs. In the past, he used to speed through everything normal. Showering, cooking, taking out the trash, working on the farm. Now he took his time with these things. Upstairs he took a shower and washed the dirt and ashes from his body. Any blood that he washes off is never his. Luckily, today there was no blood at all.

The hot water streamed over his face, his dark hair, his muscles. Clark savored the normalcy of taking a shower without using his super speed. He thought of his life in solitude, his loss, wondering what would come next. He knew his responsibility was great. Jonathan and Jor-el had both urged him to fulfill his destiny, to take the journey towards this goal. Clark felt like he had taken a break on the road to his destiny. A break that he was still taking. Something was coming, something that would jumpstart his journey again. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that it was going to change everything.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Smallville. Buffy had said a small town, but she hadn't realized quite how serious she was about it until she drove through this small farm town in Kansas. Initially she was going to keep on driving—what did Buffy know about farming? She stopped anyway, for a pit stop if nothing else. She went into the local coffee shop, The Talon. It was so interesting, much more eclectic than the Sunnydale Espresso Pump, when it still existed. Buffy had a latte and sat near one of the windows by the door. There was a pinup board with local real estate and wanted ads near where she was sitting. Buffy saw an ad for a cute farm house with a wraparound porch. It had two bedrooms and was near the cemetery. _Perfect_, Buffy thought, _I've always wanted a shorter commute_. The house wasn't too far away from town and knowing that Smallville was less than 2 hours away from Metropolis, made the opportunity all the more appealing. She could live the small town life, but still be close enough to a city with serious problems. Not that distance mattered anymore, Buffy could run there in like two minutes.

As Buffy sipped her latte, she looked around the coffee shop. There were many teens there probably from the local high school. Also, some recently graduated, early twenties looking folks. Most of the older parents and farmers were out in the street. She watched them as they loaded feed into the back of their trucks, talked to each other with broad smiles on their faces. Everyone looked so friendly, so happy. These were hardworking people who enjoyed life every chance they could. These were the kind of people that Buffy needed to be around. These might be the kind of people that needed someone like Buffy too.

Her eyes stayed outside for a while, just watching faces and imagining what living here would be like. A dark blue pickup truck pulled up across the street, to the farm supply store. Buffy was expecting another middle age or older farmer to hop out and chat up his peers at the store. But the man who opened the door and stepped out was certainly not middle aged. He had on farmer boots, blue jeans, and a painted on red short-sleeved shirt. He had to be at least 6 foot 5 inches with gorgeous near-black hair and light eyes. _Jesus, they don't make them like that in California_, Buffy thought amazed at how beautiful this guy was. She noticed something else too, he wasn't smiling like all the other farmers. More importantly, when he walked around the truck, all the other farmers in front of the store stopped smiling too. Someone said something to the guy and he just responded and kept walking. The someone shook his head, he looked sad. Buffy was intrigued at what had happened to the beautiful man that evoked such sadness among his peers—was it something recent? Was it something that everyone knew about?

In Buffy's mind, she had already decided to stay before the handsome, sad man showed up across the street. But she would be lying if she said she didn't want to know about him as well. She pulled the ad for the house that had caught her eye and walked outside to her car. She called the realtor to see if she could look at the house that afternoon, they were ecstatic and said they could meet there now.

As Buffy entered the driver's side of the Jeep, she looked one more time in the dark-haired man's direction only to find him staring right back at her. His eyebrows were knitted, like he was thinking hard about something and when he caught her catching his staring his eyes quickly diverted. _I don't know what that look was for, but he is gorgeous_.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Clark had heard someone make a call across the street, asking to see the small farm house for sale near his family's farm. The house had been vacant for a while, after all the town had been through over the years, _mainly because of me_, a lot of people left. He was leaning on the back of the truck when he heard and he looked across the street. There was a silver Jeep in front of The Talon, someone was making the call from the passenger side door, she sounded young. He didn't recognize the car. Then the passenger door closed and around the front of the car came a petite, young woman with long honey-blonde hair and light colored eyes. _I've never seen her before_, Clark thought as the woman walked around the car, looking both ways before getting to the driver's side. She had on a white tank top and jeans with high-heeled boots. She had a tan on her that didn't look like it came from around here. She was beautiful, achingly pretty.

Clark was concentrating, trying to remember if he had seen her before. Maybe she was from Metropolis. Had they gone to school together? _No, I would definitely have remembered her. But maybe not since I was always so infatuated with Lana_. Clark tried to place her and then she turned around and looked straight at him. With Clark's super vision, he could really see her and she was really something. Her hazel eyes had little flecks of gold in them and her hair, he could smell how good she smelled from across the street. He didn't let himself take too long, he didn't want her to be alarmed by his staring, so he looked away. As she drove off, with Clark knowing that she was going to look for a house here, he got a thrill of excitement for the first time in a long time. Not just was she gorgeous, but she was younger maybe around the same age. It would be nice to have someone around his age in town again.

Clark got back in his truck and headed home. He planned on staying in for the rest of the night, maybe taking his time with cooking or some late night work around the farm. One thing was for sure though; he couldn't stop thinking about the new girl in town.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Buffy loved the house. The realtor nearly had a heart attack when Buffy paid for the house in full and in cash. Buffy couldn't stand keeping up with payments of any kind and with interest on mortgage loans nowadays, it just wasn't worth the hassle. The house was near enough to town and the cemetery that she didn't need a car, which Buffy was thankful for, she never really liked driving in the first place. The local car rental accepted the Jeep back without a problem and Buffy got settled into her new life.

The local furniture store has everything she needed for a comfortable home. After living like a soldier and commander and refugee for so long, Buffy had nearly forgotten was excess living was so she just went for the basics. She would add on later if she wanted. This part of Kansas was amazing, the sunsets and sunrises were exquisite and Buffy loved how completely quiet it was out here. Scotland was pretty quiet, but this was a different type of quiet. Like a content, comfortable silence.

Buffy settled into a routine. After the first few days of ordering and receiving furniture, stocking the fridge, and developing a cover story, Buffy woke up every day to sit on her front steps and watch the sunrise. This is something she wished she had more time for before, so now she makes the time. It's the time of day where she feels closest to Joyce and to Spike, where she can remember the warmth and light they gave her during their short times together. She stays there for a while, still trying to come to terms with the inevitability that she will continue to get stronger as slayers died every day.

In the mornings after the sunrise, she would take her laptop and go to The Talon for some coffee and to access the internet. She tried to stay connected with everyone although she wanted the distance. After her emails and video messages, she would research the town. Look up old newspaper stories and crime reports. What she was finding about this seemingly small and benign town was much more complicated than she had anticipated. So far she had discovered that a meteor shower had hit this town some years ago, about 20 years ago that killed a lot of locals and destroyed a good amount of farmland. Then there was the LuthorCorp farming corporation that had so much bad publicity Buffy wondered how it stayed afloat. The trend was that the meteor shower had caused some type of mutation in the soil and local water and that people got affected by the meteor rocks in different and bizarre ways. The reports started to pile up. The local high school's newspaper, _The Torch_ was actually a wealth of information about these "meteor freaks" and the incidents involving them. Murder, robbery, suicide, bug people, and lightning rods, it seemed never ending.

"At least I know how to settle in weirdo little nowheres with a bunch of psycho freaks," Buffy joked aloud to herself. Remembering all the strange, non-vampire-related things that happened in Sunnydale, Buffy had to wonder if these incidents were magic or demon related. Yet, every cross reference she ran came up blank. Magical talismans would make sense, just not on so large a scale. Buffy had no idea what was going on here.

For one thing she was certain, these incidents slowed down or almost went away around 4 or 5 years ago. A lot of these infected people were sent to prison or to a mental hospital before anything serious happened. The local death and injury rate went down by a large margin. And there was virtually no evidence of vampires here.

One face started popping up in the newspaper clippings. The gorgeous, dark-haired young farmed from across the street her first day here. His face, younger mostly, showed up increasingly in the newspaper photos. Mostly in the background, only a few times with a full photo. He's rarely mentioned in the articles, except for a few times as the person to saved Lex Luthor, or helped so-and-so. He seemed to be the local hero. Buffy wondered why though. In many of these pictures he looks very young, he's cited as being a high schooler at the time. Why would a high schooler get involved in saving people?

Buffy was more than intrigued about him now, this Clark Kent, small town hero. Buffy ran a few more searches. The most recent Kent-related articles referred to a funeral and a state Senatorial seat. A few months ago, Jonathan Kent died of a massive heart attack, beloved by the town, nearly everyone showed up to his funeral. There was a picture of Clark standing next to his father's grave, with snow surrounding him and his mother. _The sadness makes perfect sense now. Losing a parent is never easy_. Buffy ached for him, she thought about finding her mother dead and how irrevocable death was when it was the people you loved. Clark's mother took over his father's senate seat, Martha Kent. _So, now he's in charge of the family farm? That makes sense too. He's coping alone with this_.

She would research and chat with the locals in town until the afternoon when she would go back home. Buffy loved the quiet, loved the rolling hills and farmland here. Seeing cows and horses off in the distance. She used the day before sunset to enjoy the quiet and the beauty of her new location. She would take short and long walks around the woods near the cemetery. After sunset she would head to the cemetery, just in case any vampires did decide to show up. They never did. Someday they might though, which is how Buffy justified staying here.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Clark couldn't help but notice her around town that first week. She had bought the farm house, which was pretty close to his and he could see the lights on from his front porch. She was always at the coffee shop in the afternoons. He has been avoiding the Talon for a while—too many memories. But he contemplated sitting with her, starting a conversation with her. Then he got an unsettling phone call from Chloe.

"Hey Clark! How have you been? How are things on the farm?" Chloe chimed through the phone.

It was nice to hear her voice, Clark thought.

"I'm okay, getting myself together. I just miss him all the time Chloe. I'm working more on and off the farm to get my mind off of everything."

"I noticed. Lots of saving going on in town. You should stop by and see me Clark, I miss you. Getting away from the farm is probably a good idea too."

Chloe felt for Clark, but she felt more for his safety.

"Clark, I need to tell you something. It may be nothing, but you should know."

Clark felt a cold rush of anxiety. "What is it Chloe?"

"Well you know how I keep track of searches on The Torch, just to keep tabs on anyone looking to dig up some of Smallville's skeletons?"

"Yea?"

"Well, someone's been digging. A lot. And not just for fun. I barely noticed it at first, the level of encryption on their searches is out of control. Like beyond military or LuthorCorp."

"What are they looking for Chloe?"

"At first, it looked only like some weird stuff, like neck wounds or massacres. Then about the meteor shower. Then the height of the meteor freakiness when we were in high school. Then you…Just you. It looks like they saw your face in the article when you saved Lex on that bridge and then searched for you from there."

"So, someone's researching the town and finds me involved in all these news stories and starts searching me by name? Why does the encryption matter?"

"It means that they don't want to be tracked, by anyone, anywhere. But luckily you have me and I figured out where they are. Anyone new move in to town lately?"

"You mean you tracked the searches here, to Smallville?"

"I did, which makes sense. It started out like someone checking out a new town then it just grew from there with you being the end result. I figure now they know enough about you to connect some dots."

Clark was pacing in his living room, the wooden floor creaking underneath his work boots, wondering about the blonde woman. Who was she? Now he had no choice but to find out.

"Someone new did move in. She just bought the small white farmhouse across the field."

"Who is she?"

"I have no idea Chloe. All I know is she's beautiful and keeps to herself."

Chloe thought it sounded a lot like him, as she smiled.

"Interesting. What does she look like? I can run a search on her. See how she likes it."

"She's petite, long honey blonde hair, hazel eyes, really tan. She's definitely not from around here."

"What does she do?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her working anywhere. She hangs out at the Talon everyday and then goes home. She doesn't talk to anyone really. I see her sitting on her porch every morning and evening watching the sun. She looks like she lost something." _Or someone_.

"Oh my! Clark Kent spying on girl from afar. Scandalous and yet oddly familiar."

"Stop it Chloe. She isn't Lana and I'm not in love. She intrigues me though. Especially now that you tell me she's keeping tabs on me."

"Well I'll run a search on her and if anything comes up I'll let you know. In the meantime, get to know her. You've got nothing to lose, besides, she could be an ally."

Clark hoped she was, but knew better after all these years of betrayal.

"We'll see Chloe. Keep me updated. I'll stop by soon."

"Bye Clark." "Bye Chloe."

So, she was spying on him or something like that. He didn't feel so bad about watching her now. Clark was going to have to keep a closer eye on her now anyway. He was also going to have to be more careful with his coming and going—she could be watching him too.

Clark went out to the front porch. It was still morning and the sun was just getting high in the sky. He looked out across the field to her house. She was still sitting on the porch steps with a cup of coffee in her hands, blanket around her shoulders. The sunlight danced on her hair and sadness danced in her eyes.

Clark wanted to know her. Where was she from? Why was she here? Why was she researching him? All these questions and all he really needed to do was start a conversation.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Buffy was at The Talon again with her laptop and a couple of books. She had her hair up in a messy bun, her denim-clad legs folded under her and a pen in her teeth when he walked in. He'd never come in before, so she was startled to see him walk past her to the coffee bar. She had started to assume that he never came here. Period. But here he was.

_His backside is just as amazing as his frontside_, Buffy thought.

Clark knew she was there but didn't look over right away. He ordered a coffee and leaned against the counter, nonchalantly looking around and waving to some people he knew. Then his eyes shifted to her. Clark could tell she was trying not to look at him either. Trying to be as nonchalant as he was trying to be. There was an open seat at her table near the window.

After a few stewing minutes, he walked over to her table.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Clark maintained his charming, innocent face, his dark hair just barely brushing his eyebrows. His smile was light, he didn't want to seem too eager.

Buffy was surprised he came over. Excited, but surprised. "No, not at all." She unfolded her legs and sat up straight in her chair. Still trying to look relaxed, but as soon as he sat down, she realized how tall he was. He was towering over her and he was so incredibly gorgeous. She had always been with beautiful men she thought, _but Jesus!_

Lana had always been the essence of beauty for Clark, but this woman was different. She had a sadness about her like Lana, but Clark could sense a strength about her that Lana never had. _I have to remember that she's spying on me_, Clark internally scolded himself.

Buffy smiled at him, curious. He looked like an off the farm model for a magazine, not someone who ran around saving people or getting involved in the weird or supernatural. _Maybe he wasn't, maybe he was just at the right place right time, or wrong place wrong time. Depending on how you look at it. _By now, Buffy had dealt with a lot of strange and wonderful and terrible things, _how bad could this be? _

"I saw you across the street last week. I'm guessing you live here?"

"I've lived here my whole life, yea. My family has a small farm here. I hear that you bought that white farmhouse down the road, they've been trying to sell that for a while now."

"I did. I stopped here last week, saw the ad, and viewed the house. It was perfect, exactly what I was looking for. And it's so pretty here, and quiet. I love it."

Clark couldn't help but smile at her genuineness, he could see she really meant it. He looked down at his coffee and back at her.

"Smallville is a great place to live. You said you stopped here, was that the original plan?" Clark wanted some answers, but didn't want to push her.

Buffy had already decided on a cover story, but knowing as much as she did about him already it was going to be hard to play innocent. She went with a story that didn't deviate too much from the real story, she was still from Sunnydale. Now that everyone on earth had heard about Sunnydale, being a displaced traveler seemed plausible.

"Well I was on a roadtrip, trying to find myself or something like that. I told the rental place I hadn't decided on a destination, which I hadn't. So when I came through Smallville, it really reminded me of home, so I stayed."

"Home, where is that?"

"Sunnydale, California." She saw his facial muscles clench a little, he had heard about Sunnydale too.

"Wow, yea I heard about that. I'm sorry to hear you were from there, I can't imagine what that must have been like." Of course he could imagine, with losing his entire home planet he could understand her pain. Sunnydale was a complete disaster area, when he heard about what had happened he got there as quickly as he could. There was nothing he could do; the town had literally imploded on itself. They said it was some kind of sinkhole, but he seriously doubted it.

"Yea, it's been about a year now, so I've had some time. I bounced around for a while, went to London and Scotland and Italy. But I had this intense desire to be back in the states. So I flew back to New York, got a car, and drove. I ended up here." Buffy smiled, he was totally buying the vanilla story of her real life, which showed all over his face. It was going back and forth between despair and awe.

_She's really been through an ordeal_, Clark thought as she told her story. Why the encryption though and why the sneakiness?

"Well Smallville is a town that knows how to rebuild after disaster. Back in 1989 and again a couple of years ago we had meteor showers. They destroyed parts of town and killed some of our locals. We've been able to come back from it, hopefully you'll find the strength of Smallville beneficial to you."

Buffy knew about the meteor showers. He was here when they happened? _I wonder if he lost anyone because of them?_

"Thanks for that." Buffy softened a bit more, knowing that he had lost his father recently. And who know who else over the years because of the meteor showers.

"Do you work?"

"I don't." _Not in the traditional sense at least_. "I received some inheritance after everything happened and have some close family friends that have been helping me out, so I'm good for a while. I've been doing a lot of reading and writing, I don't know if I'm a good enough writer to make anything out of it, but that's how I've been passing my time." Buffy figured that 'writer' was an acceptable non-paid reclusive job that would fit with her story. She couldn't say _"Well I'm a superhero vampire slayer that can run all over the world in like a second and have saved the world about five times."_ She had to keep a low-profile and besides, who would buy that?

She had been writing a lot lately though, something she felt compelled to do after everything that had happened in her life she wanted a record of it somewhere. A non-watcher record.

"A writer huh? Funny, my best friend Chloe is a writer for The Daily Planet in metropolis. She's been doing it for a while. Next time she's in town, I'll make sure you two meet." Perfect segue to get her to meet Chloe.

"What do you do for work? I'm guessing the farm?"

"Yea, that takes up a lot of my time. I run it by myself so I'm pretty busy with it."

"A whole farm by yourself? That must be overwhelming."

"That's a word for it I guess. It's my parents' farm and it's been in my family for a long time."

"Are your parents still around?" Buffy treaded lightly here, but since he mentioned his parents, she figured it would be a good time to ask.

"Well, my dad died pretty recently. He had a heart attack." Clark looked down, his jaw muscles contracting. The guilt he felt about his father wasn't going away anytime soon, but he had to control it. "My dad had just been elected to the state Senate, so when he died, my mom took it over. Now it's just me taking care of the farm. It's not so bad, I enjoy the solitude and the quiet." He looked back up at her; he could see his pain reflected back at him in her eyes.

"Losing a parent isn't easy, that's for sure. A few years ago, my mom got sick. She had a brain tumor. They were able to remove it and everything went back to normal, she was going on dates and it seemed like everything was going to be all right. One day I came home and found her dead on the couch. She had had an aneurism and died instantly." It wasn't a story that she told very often, but whenever she did it tore at her. Knowing how she felt when she was with her mom in heaven, how safe her mom always made her feel, then to have her ripped away. Twice.

Clark had known loss, he felt like he was surrounded by it for most of his life. He could relate to her in this, in their losses. This is where her sadness comes from. It comes from losing her mom, losing her home. How much more did she lose that she's not revealing?

"I'm really sorry to hear that about your mom. I guess we can relate in more than just living in the same town, huh?"

"I guess so. Sorry our conversation turned super-emo for a bit there. What's your name?"

"Clark Kent. You?"

"Buffy Summers. Nice to meet you Clark." Buffy reached out her hand to him and he took her hand in his. They shook hands as they looked into each other's eyes. His hand was like a soft, steel-gripped glove around her small hand. She gave him back as much strength as he was giving her. Clark noticed how she was matching his grip, impressed.

They returned their hands back to their respective sides of the table, both feeling the loss of connection immediately. Clark felt like he had cleared up some of his questions, just knowing her name was a success. He wanted to know more though.

"So Buffy, now that we've shared some small talk and some personal scars, I would be remiss if I didn't invite you over for dinner sometime. What do you think?"

"Hmm, are you a good cook? Because me and the kitchen are unmixy things."

He laughed. "Yes, I enjoy cooking. And I cook for myself a lot now. It would be nice to cook for someone else."

"I would love to Clark. Thank you for the invitation. When?"

"How about tonight?"

"Sounds good, I don't have any plans."

Clark was ecstatic to get to know Buffy more. Chloe's worries were still in the back of his head though. He would update her about Buffy, just to make sure. He couldn't help but feel that she was the real deal. Not some spy. He'd get to know her better over dinner.

"Great, well you know that yellow farmhouse just across the way from you?"

"Oh yea, that's the beautiful house right down the road from me."

"Thanks, well that's my house, how about 7ish, around sunset?"

"Sounds good Clark. I'll see you then."

Clark stood up to leave. He was smiling a much larger smile now than he had when he sat down. He nearly tripped over a chair on his way out the door. "Bye Buffy." Then he left. Buffy sat there, amazed at how relaxed she had felt talking to Clark. He exuded this kind of trustworthiness that she hadn't felt since she met Riley so long ago, before she knew he was Mister Soldier U.S.A. Clark gave off a sense of safety that told you he wouldn't judge you for who you were or what you've done. A common understanding of loss and pain. She felt close to him already, but still had a nagging sense of insecurity about who he really was. Was she just being paranoid? Maybe he just lived in a small town and always got caught in the newspaper on accident? Or maybe he was simply helpful?

_Who is the real Clark Kent?_

His smile grew as he walked across the street to his truck. He looked back at the Talon as he started the engine. There she was, sitting in by the window, glowing. That was probably the easiest, least awkward conversation he's ever had with a woman other than Chloe. Now he felt like he knew where her pained look came from. As she sat on her front steps in the morning looking off into the distance, looking for something she had lost, now he felt like he had at least some of the picture. She lost her mom, her home and who know what else. He started driving home, thinking about Buffy and how connected he felt to her already. Her resilience in the face of loss was something he could relate to more than she knew. She was beyond beautiful too, he couldn't deny that. The feel of her hand in his was exhilarating, her strength surprising. Maybe she used encrypted computers because she was simply a computer whiz like Chloe? Or maybe she was writing a novel she wanted to keep secret? _Maybe she looked me up because she thought I was hot or something?_ Clark amused himself as he shoved Chloe's warning further and further out of his mind.

_Who is the real Buffy Summers?_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"I met her Chloe." Clark was getting dinner ready when he called Chloe to update her.

"You did? Femme fatale or what?" Chloe was surprised at how quickly Clark had stepped up, usually he moved at a snail's pace when it came to women. _I should know!_

"Definitely not. At least not from our conversation. She secretive for sure, but I can't help but feel like there's a really good reason for it. She's from Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale? Geez. I remember when that happened last year, it was all over the news. You said she was from there?"

"Yea, her name is Buffy Summers. She's been traveling, trying to settle on a place and Smallville reminded her of home, so she stayed here. She's been writing to pass the time, I told her about you, that you two should meet." Clark was chopping up some vegetables while heating a pot of water to a boil on the stove with his heat vision.

"That might be a good idea, so I can meet her and get a feel for the situation. I'll search her name while we talk. What else do you know?" Chloe started tapping away at her computer, searching for any Summers, Buffy along with the description Clark gave.

"She said she lost her mom to a brain aneurism a few years ago. She told me about Sunnydale. She talked about how she loves it here. I told her about my dad and how I run the farm while my mom's off at the Senate. We just covered the basics, didn't even scratch the surface. I invited her over for dinner tonight."

"Wow Clark, you're just full of surprises. You know, I'm looking up her name and usually within a few minutes of searching I would be a fountain of information. But it looks like she's been wiped from the system. Let's try going back further." _Tap-tap-tap-tap_.

"Here we go. Hemery High School in Los Angeles about 8 years ago, one Buffy Summers burnt down the high school gym and was expelled. I'm guessing that's when she moved to Sunnydale. Here's something else, the Sunnydale newspaper digitized it's articles starting around that time. A new art gallery opened in town, operated by a Joyce Summers. Buffy's mom?" Chloe kept looking.

Clark stopped chopping. _Burnt down the high school gym? Really? Why? _"I guess that's her mom. Burnt down the gym? I wonder why, she doesn't seem like the rebellious type."

"There aren't any more details about it. But there's something weird here. I'm looking at the Sunnydale newspaper archives and there are a lot of deaths. Unexplained deaths. It looks like a lot of them died of severe blood loss and neck wounds. About eight years ago, there were a substantial number of people dying for such a small town. Then all the sudden it halts to a few every so often. The death rate stayed pretty steady and then the town imploded last year. It looks like the steadying happened after Buffy and her mom moved into town." Chloe was sparing Clark all the details, but she was shocked at the number of deaths Sunnydale had and then how it just seemed to stop.

"What do you make of that Chloe? Do think the Buffy is related to the drop in death rates?" Clark was excited by the prospect of Buffy being a hero; at least it meant that she wasn't a villain.

"Clark, I don't know. One thing is for sure though, Buffy's early searches of Smallville were looking specifically for severe blood loss and neck wounds in the obituaries and homicide reports. Then she shows up in Sunnydale and these kinds of deaths nearly disappear? I think she knows something, why else would she be looking for that kind of thing here? You know unless she was familiar with it. You know what it sounds like Clark?"

"What Chloe?" Clark was leaning against the kitchen counter, trying to connect the dots Chloe was outlining for him.

"It sounds like vampires." Chloe was sure of it, but she knew it sounded ridiculous.

"Vampires? You're kidding me."

"I'm not Clark. Maybe there are more out there than Lana's band of sorority vamps. Or maybe there are more of a different kind out there, more vicious than them. Maybe Buffy knows about them, knows about fighting them."

"I don't know Chloe, it sounds a little out there. I won't deny that Buffy researching the same kinds of deaths here is connected to Sunnydale somehow, but vampires? I just don't know." Clark went back to preparing dinner, knowing that 7 o'clock was approaching.

Chloe knew better than to be skeptical after all she had seen over the years, but she also knew that Clark usually needed proof. "Okay, Clark. You should just ask her then. 'Hey Buffy, what do you know about vampires?' "

"Yea right Chloe, that'll go over well. I'll see how tonight goes first."

"It's also weird that she doesn't exist, she's been completely wiped from the system with the exception of that article about Hemery which was probably a minor mistake. Why would someone go through the trouble? I'll try some more searches, maybe she'll pop up somewhere in the restricted zones. You two have a good dinner, I'm glad that you at least sound happier than usual. Have fun and I'll keep you updated."

"Thanks Chloe, I'll talk to you later." Clark hung up the phone and thought about Buffy. Buffy and vampires? What's the connection there? _It's ridiculous, why would she have anything to do with vampires?_ Clark was skeptical to say the least. For now, he just wanted to finish preparing dinner and get a chance to know her better.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Buffy shut the medicine cabinet door and proceeded to stare at herself in the mirror. Her blonde hair had grown past her shoulders again. _Goldilocks. Ugh. _She had always hated it when Spike called her that. She kept her bangs trimmed, delicately shaping her face so the memory of her death-hair didn't come back to haunt her. The dark circles under her eyes had vanished since coming here. Endemic to the slayer lifestyle, especially the slayer-army lifestyle was no sleep and no time for rest. She made sure to get her full six hours most nights since moving to Smallville and her skin glowed more with each passing day. Buffy carefully wanded some mascara over her lashes and lined her full lips with a nude colored lip pencil. She stepped back and ran her fingers through her hair. _Damn Buffy, small town life has you looking fine!_ She laughed out loud at herself, giddy with excitement to be having dinner with Clark.

Buffy walked over to her small closet, _tragically small_, and slipped a loose-knit beige sweater over her white tank top, one shoulder peeking its way out. The bottom of the sweater stopped just above the waist of her tight-fitting jeans, showing the tiniest bit of her tanned stomach. On the way out the door, she slipped on her high-heel boots and grabbed a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, hoping that Clark was as much of a lightweight as she used to be—_Ha! Doubt it. _

The field between Buffy and Clark's houses was small and serene in the moonlight, the sky dimming slowly in the distance as the sun completely set. As Buffy slowly walked toward the yellow farmhouse, she used her super vision to peek into the kitchen window. Clark was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a phone to his ear. He looked concerned. Buffy perked up her hearing, but could only hear him saying goodbye to Chloe. _Curious. What's Chloe have him concerned about? _She was close enough to the house now that Clark noticed her through the window. Before her boots reached the first porch stair, he was already leaning against the doorframe. Clark was wearing a faded blue t-shirt and jeans, his hair mussed and hanging just above his crystal blue eyes.

"I see that you made it okay." Clark smiled at Buffy as she walked up the stairs. As she watched her step, Clark took a few moments to notice her bare shoulders and the smell of her hair and the peeking of her stomach. _She is insanely beautiful_.

"Yes, the journey was terribly long and foreboding. But I persevered." Buffy looked up at him, now fully on the porch, as he laughed at her lightly. He towered over her even in her high-heel boots. _Must remember to wear higher heels next time! _She scolded herself as she looked up at him, still a few feet away across the porch. She was startled at how beautiful his full smile was, and those lips might be the softest looking lips she had ever seen.

They stared at each other for a moment. Her stare was intense and curious. Clark could feel himself heating up under her gaze as she stepped closer to him. _I need to calm down before I start shooting lasers at her face. Yeah, that came out kinda wrong_. Clark smiled again at himself and then stepped back to open the door.

"Come in." Clark felt her body brush his skin as she walked through the doorway. The smell of food flooded her senses and the warm surroundings engulfed her. As she looked around the solid wood beams and the décor, Buffy felt like she was at home again.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Clark watched her as she stepped lightly around the kitchen, peeking into the living room and glancing around to the stairs. He wondered what she was thinking. Her long blonde hair was down tonight, reaching down to her mid-back. Clark was leaning against the counter on an elbow watching her and he continued looking down to her ass.

Buffy turned around quickly, almost catching Clark staring at her backside, but he was quick to transfer his eyes up to her lovely face. Buffy could feel the heat radiating off him, knowing he was checking her out. _Well at least I know he likes my ass, that's a start_.

"You have a lovely home. It reminds me of home back in Sunnydale. What is that heavenly smell?" Buffy hadn't had a good home cooked meal in a really long time. She walked over to the counter to where Clark was and leaned next to him, placing the bottle of Cab on the counter.

They were so close to each other, just sharing the same space for a second. Each with their own super senses hearing the other's heartbeat, smelling their essence, seeing the flush of the other's skin. Never knowing that the other was examining them so intimately.

Clark stood up straight first. "Well, I didn't know what you liked, so I made a roast, potatoes, and some vegetables from the garden. If you're a vegetarian, we may have to order pizza. Sorry."

Buffy laughed at his hedging about the food. "Please, don't apologize. That sounds amazing." She noticed that he had set two plates on the island in the middle of the kitchen instead of the dining room. So she moved over to one of the place settings and began to sit down.

"I figured it would be less formal to eat in here, more comfortable. But we can move it into the dining room if you would prefer? I haven't had anyone over for dinner in quite a while, in case you couldn't tell." He looked down at the floor and then back up at her, his eyes shining innocently through his dark hair.

"Clark, this is perfect, good call on the comfortableness that is here." _He needs to stop looking at me like that or I am going to jump him right here_, Buffy thought to herself.

"I'm glad you like it, let's eat then." Clark sat down cattycorner to her and began serving the both of them.

Once they had settled in with their food and started eating, Buffy wondered about the mystery of Clark Kent and Clark wondered about the mystery of Buffy Summers. They both started talking at the same time.

"So, tell me about your friend Chloe—"

"So, tell me about your life back in Sunnydale—"

They both laughed. "Please, you go first Clark."

"Well Chloe and I have been best friends since we were kids. She has always loved writing and was editor of The Torch, the school newspaper. I worked at the newspaper too, helping her follow stories and acting as the school press when something happened in town."

_Well that kind of makes sense now, maybe he was all over the newspaper because he was with the school press?_

"After high school, she moved to Metropolis to pursue her dream to be a big time reporter at The Daily Planet. So, that's where she is now. We get to see each other every now and again, but we talk on the phone often. She's the best friend anyone could ever have."

"She sounds great Clark, next time she's in town I would love to meet her." Buffy was pleased to hear that Clark had connections to people and wasn't completely on his own.

"So, you want to know about Sunnydale huh?" Buffy was hesitant because she hadn't really thought about a cover story for before the town's implosion.

Clark saw the hesitance in her eyes, immediately scolding himself for asking about her previous life too soon. "I'm sorry Buffy, we don't have to talk about that. I know it's probably too much—"

She interrupted him, "No, Clark. It is totally fine. I've had a year to cope with it and I can talk about it. My mom and I moved to Sunnydale when I was a sophomore in high school. She opened up an art gallery and I started school. I met my best friends Xander and Willow while I was there. When we graduated, Willow and I went to UC-Sunnydale for a few years. I dropped out when my mom got sick, she needed help with my sister Dawn. She didn't handle our mom being sick very well, she was still just a kid. After mom died, we had a couple of rough years trying to get the bills together and keep the house and all that. When Dawn started at the high school, I worked as a guidance counselor. Then the earthquakes started and all the weird stuff, so we packed up everything we could and got out just before the sinkhole happened. You pretty much know the rest." Buffy looked down at her plate, feeling strange that she was leaving out so much of her life. _Too much_. But she knew that was the only way to keep her secret and have a shot at a new life.

Clark could tell Buffy was pained by everything she had gone through, and knowing there was a good deal more that she wasn't telling him made him hurt all the more for her. He was used to keeping secrets by now and he knew what that did to him and everyone around him. He knew what keeping secrets looked like and Buffy was definitely holding back a lot.

"UC-Sunnydale huh? I went to Central Kansas A&M for a couple of semesters. I took a few politics and agricultural business courses. Pretty boring stuff. What were you interested in?"

"I took some psychology classes and a film course. I jumped around a lot because I really didn't know what I wanted to do. It was fun being there with Willow though and—" _Riley._ "—other people." Buffy didn't think about Riley very often, but when she did she always felt terrible about how it had ended. It had to end of course, he wasn't right for her, but it still ended pretty badly. _Like they all end, really._

Clark thought about Lana too, how their battle over going to college had slowly separated them and then everything that had happened with his dad.

They both noticed the sadness slipping into each other's eyes as the conversation progressed. With their plates clean, Buffy stood up and placed their dishes in the sink. Clark noticed how gracefully she moved and when she reached up to get some wine glasses, he saw a good bit of her lower back. He longed to touch her soft, tan skin. She grabbed the wine glasses and the bottle of wine she had brought and walked back to the table and scooted her chair closer to his. Their knees were touching slightly.

"So, here we go again, getting all emo with each other. I say that we have some wine to follow up that delicious dinner and search for some lighter conversation." Buffy was already pouring the wine, giving Clark no time to protest. "What shall we toast to Clark?"

Clark was enthralled by her smile and urgency to change the tone of the evening. "How about we toast to new friends." Buffy raised her glass to his. "To new friends and small towns." Their glasses clinked and as they sipped their wine, their eyes were locked on each other. Buffy thought, _This should be fun._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Clark knew the alcohol wouldn't affect him, his body metabolized alcohol before it ever had any effect, which was extremely frustrating. But he could see that Buffy didn't have that problem, or she was really good at faking inebriation.

"—So I ran out into the restaurant throwing everyone's food onto the floor, yelling 'It's people! It's people! The secret ingredient is people!'—" Buffy was laughing hysterically telling her vanilla story of her time at the Doublemeat Palace. Clark was laughing with her. "Management fired me after that, but how was I supposed to know that the finger in the grinder was a fake that the new kid put in there? I mean really?" Buffy poured herself another glass of wine and topped off Clark's glass. Clark was doing his best to act loose and cool, which was easy being around Buffy.

"A scout from Princeton was coming by the house one night to talk to me about a football scholarship, but my friends put together a surprise party and I completely forgot about the scout. Then someone spiked the punch and I don't know, roofied the beer keg or something because we all started dancing and acting crazy. The scout came into the barn at the height of our craziness, I'm down to my boxers dancing on the stairs and I'm like 'Hey, join us!' to the scout—" Buffy was laughing so hard at Clark's story, and was imagining him in just his boxers. _Hmmm, boxers. Clark in boxers…_Clark was being sure to leave out the magic stuff, _who would believe in magic anyway?_

They were both laughing, leaning into each other as they shared their stories. "Well Clark, you dancing in boxers must have been quite a sight." Buffy slapped her hand down on Clark's thigh, their legs fully entangled after talking and drinking together for about an hour. Buffy's hand was like a searing hot imprint on his thigh. Clark felt his whole body heating up. He shifted in his high-top chair as he felt his jeans getting tighter.

Buffy realized all at once the effect her hand on his thigh had on him, removed her hand immediately, and leaned back. Although she was feeling the wine a little bit, her amped up slayer strength burned it off pretty quickly, so she was mostly playing up the laughing high at this point. "I'm sorry Clark, I didn't…Yeah, maybe I should go." Buffy went to move her chair back from his to step down and stand up. But before she could, Clark stopped her.

Clark felt the loss of her hand immediately and craved for it again. Before she could slide away from him, he grabbed her hand in his, feeling her soft fingers intertwine with his. "Buffy. It's okay." He placed their hands back on his thigh with his hand gently rubbing hers. She was looking up at him through her honey hair, uncertainty in her eyes. He took his right hand and moved it to her cheek, slowly moving her face up to look at him, his thumb rubbing her face and then putting her hair behind her ear. The move was so gentle, so relaxed, it surprised Buffy how natural they were together.

She moved her hand lightly on his thigh, being careful not to go too high. He ran his hand up her other arm, caressing her bare shoulder. Their faces only inches apart, he pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers. He moved his lips against hers, feeling her respond, her arms moving up to embrace him. Buffy moved her hand to his face to feel his soft skin and his jaw moving as he kissed her. She opened her mouth to him, letting their tongues touch and dance. She deepened the kiss when she kicked the chair out behind her and pushed her full body into his still sitting form. Clark put his arms around her as she stood in front of him, rubbing his hands all over her body, up and under her sweater. Buffy could feel his muscles under his shirt as she ran her hands over his back. She moved her fingers into his hair, tugging it back as she kissed her way along his jaw and nipped at his ear and neck.

Clark was losing his control as she gently kissed and bit him on the neck. Buffy was losing her control as she grinded her body into his, she could feel his hardened dick through his jeans. He could smell her desire for him. He moved his hands to her waist, picking her up and sitting her on the edge of the counter. He got up and stood between her open legs, pushing his body into hers. His hands roamed against her back as she kissed him passionately, her hands finding their way under his shirt to feel his skin and ripples of muscle on his stomach and chest. His heart was beating fast and so was hers. He moved his lips to her cheek and her ear. He whispered to her, "You are so fucking beautiful." She squirmed at his proclamation.

Clark moved to kiss her neck, first moving her long hair over to the side. His tongue ran along her neck. All of the sudden he felt something raised, something smoothed over and he moved his face back to look. On Buffy's neck was a scar, it looked like a bite mark, with two deep punctures. She felt the loss of his lips on her neck and turned to look at him. She could see concern on his face and she knew what he had found. She knew she should have been more careful.

"Buffy, I—" "Clark, I should go." Buffy placed her hands on his chest and moved him back just a little so she could jump down from the counter. Her lips were swollen from his kisses. _Such wonderful kisses_. Clark just stood there, confused at what had just happened. He could feel her moving to go around him and he reached out and pulled him to her instead. "Please, don't go Buffy," he said into her hair as he hugged her to him. "Something happened, a lot has happened to you, I get it. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just don't go." She looked up at him, God how she wanted to tell him, tell him everything. But she just couldn't. She kissed him lightly on the lips. "Clark, thank you for dinner. I really enjoyed our time together tonight. I'll see you tomorrow okay?" Clark let go of her and nodded, "I would like that Buffy." He walked over to the door and opened it. Buffy stopped when she got to the porch and he kissed her one more time, then she walked out into the night.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

When Buffy got home she could still feel the weight of Clark's body pressing into hers and the pressure of his soft lips and tongue massaging her mouth. She got inside her door and pressed her back against it, catching her breath. Willing herself to not turn around and go back. She wanted to stay more than anything, she needed his hands on her. It had been a long time since she had felt that fire, that connection with another person. Part of her felt guilty because she missed Spike, but the other, more realistic part of her, knew that it was past time to move on. Everything about Clark felt right, he was kind, beautiful, and damaged. Like her. They both had secrets, mysterious pasts.

Why had she got all skittish about him seeing her scar? _What was I going to do? Tell him a dog bit me when I was kid? No. _It was better that she left because now she needed to think of a plan, an excuse, something.

She heard a beeping sound coming from her bedroom, it sounded like her phone. Buffy pulled off her boots and was pulling off her sweater as she entered her bedroom. Her cell phone was blinking. _Voicemail._ The message was from Xander "Hey Buff, I hope settling in wherever you are is going well. We miss you. Listen, there's something I need to talk to you about, it's urgent, so give me a call back. 'Kay? Love ya. Bye."

Xander wasn't the alarmist type, so when he said it was urgent, it usually meant something of badness.

Ring-ring-ring-ring. "Hello?"

"Hey Xander, it's me. Giving you a call back."

"Buffy, hey! How are things?" Xander sounded good, happy, on the other end of the line. Buffy was glad to hear him happy, it meant nothing tragic had happened.

"I'm good Xan, it's nice where I am and I'm settling in nicely. I just came back from dinner with a friend." Buffy grinned to herself, _Dinner and dessert_.

"That's good to hear, you making friends. Nobody to replace me or the Willster I hope!"

"Never ever Xander. So, what's the urgent what?"

"Well, the control room has had some security breaches over the last seven hours. It appears that someone is hacking into our secure military files and they are looking for some pretty specific stuff. Namely you Buff. They're searching your name in the database, looking for something. I don't know what for or why."

"What is the caliber of the breach? Is it military-grade? I know they are looking for me." Buffy worried about bringing the military down on her head in this serene small town. She would really like to avoid that at all costs.

"I don't think so Buffy, the hacker is pretty strong though, Willow has been countering for the last few hours—" Buffy interrupted, "With magic?" "No, just old fashioned hacker Willow. The intruder is good, Willow's been cussing solid for about two hours, and I mean real cuss words, no cutesy stuff."

"Must be serious then," Buffy chuckled a little. "Well I met someone here that may be involved in some hero-type stuff. I don't know yet. I ran some searches on him though, so maybe he knows someone was looking into him. I mean, I am the only new person in town, it makes sense that he would be interested." Buffy thought about it, what if Clark was looking into her being in Smallville? What if he knew about her being the slayer? _No, then he wouldn't have looked so concerned or shocked at my scar_.

"Is this the guy you were at dinner with?" Xander was super curious now, who was this new guy in Buffy's life and should he be concerned if the guy was searching through Buffy's past?

"Yes, Xander, it was. Everything went normal, I shared some of my truncated life story and him his, we shared some sadness, drank a little, the usual adult stuff." _Mmmmhmmm_, Xander thought, _the usual adult stuff. Right. _

"But then he saw my scar and got a little wiggy so I left, I'm not sure what to do now. I like the guy, he's really nice, but if he's being all cloak and dagger I don't know what."

"How'd he get close enough to your neck to see your scar, huh Buffy?"

"Shut it Xander! It's none of your business."

"Yeah, yeah. Either way though, he knows something about you and now he knows you've tangoed with vampires, or large, well-aimed dogs at some point. Be careful with this guy Buffy, you don't know if you can trust him." Xander was always worried about Buffy, but at least now with her super-duper-powers he could worry a little less.

"I know Xander, I'll keep a closer eye on him for the next few days and see if anything happens. Keep me updated on the breaches though. I don't want whoever this is getting through, I would like to keep my small little life for as long as possible."

"Alright Buffy, I'll keep you updated. Be safe out there."

"Okay, tell Dawn and Willow and everyone I said hi and I love them. Love you Xander." Buffy was always sad to hang up, she missed him and everyone dearly, but she knew it was better for her to be away.

"I will. Love you too Buff. Talk to you later." Xander hung up the phone, hoping that Buffy was going to be okay. He knew why she left and had tried to talk her out of it, but he also understood the need to leave. The girls were starting to feel weird around her, knowing that when they died she would get stronger. She did the right thing, but that didn't make her absence hurt any less.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Buffy put the phone back down and walked over to the window. The lights were still on at Clark's house. She couldn't see him anywhere though, so she listened really hard. She could hear water running from upstairs. Buffy could hear the smallest of moans through the rushing water.

When Buffy left, Clark struggled with what to do with himself. He was concerned that he had royally fucked it up with Buffy by gawking at her scar. _That scar_. It really looked like a vampire bite. Clark guessed that he would have to take Chloe seriously and consider the possibility that Buffy was some kind of vampire killer. He knew for certain she wasn't a vampire because of her heartbeat and scorching hot skin. _That skin_. Clark knew she had secrets, something he was willing to deal with because he had secrets too, but the idea of never being able to touch her again was unbearable.

He paced through his house, trying to figure out if he should go over there and apologize. Clark decided to wait, to give her some distance and talk to her tomorrow. His skin was still buzzing from her touch, his lips red from their kissing, and he was irrevocably turned on. It had been a very long time since anyone had touched him like that, with such passion that he could burn the whole house down. The more he thought about it, the hotter he got. _I need a shower_.

Clark super-sped upstairs, ripping his clothes off along the way. When he entered the shower he put his hands on the cold tiles in front of him and let the cold water embrace his naked body. He closed his eyes and replayed the night in his mind. Reliving every kiss and every touch of Buffy's hands and body on his. His body reacted to his memories and he could feel his dick start to harden. Clark didn't masturbate very often because it always brought him painful memories of Lana and the other women who he had lost.

For the first time in a long time, he felt unashamed as he reached down with his right hand and encircled his hardened cock. As he thought of Buffy's legs wrapped around his body, grinding her sex onto his jeaned crotch, he began to stroke himself. Slowly at first, pumping his hand up and down the long length of his dick, reaching his velvet head and then back down. His memory of her lips on his skin, her biting his neck and tugging his hair was overwhelming. He imagined climbing on top of her on the counter and feeling her legs wrap around him as he cupped her breasts. His hand reaching down into her jeans and slowly fingering her hot, wet core. Her hands unbuckling his pants and slipping down to grab his dick. The look on her face as she comprehended his size and girth in her small hand. His hand was still stroking, increasingly faster, and he could feel himself getting closer to his release. He could hear her saying his name in a hushed, desire-laden voice, "Clark." This sent him over the edge, his body jerked slightly and he moaned her name as he came, "Buffy."

The water was still running and he had almost forgotten he was in the shower. How he wished he was with Buffy downstairs right now, living out his fantasy. He turned the water off and toweled himself dry. There was no way he was going to sleep tonight. He decided to get back into his clothes and head to Metropolis, maybe some saving would keep him distracted until tomorrow. Maybe he would stop by and see Chloe while he was there too, tell her about the scar.

Clark locked up the house and stared over at Buffy's house, there were no lights on. He wondered if she was okay. Then he ran off to Metropolis in a blur.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Buffy knew what she heard. She heard moans coming from the shower over at Clark's. _What is he up to over there?_ She was too curious to just let it go. She went out the back door of her house and kicked off the ground into a slow glide through the air. It had taken her a few weeks to get this flying thing under control, but it was pretty sweet. She flew over to the roof of Clark's barn and perched there for a few minutes, trying to get closer so she could listen. _Bad Buffy_.

Buffy certainly heard a few more moans, the last followed by him saying her name, his voice filled with need. She could feel herself getting wet at the idea of him masturbating to the thought of her. _Take it easy Buffy, you don't want to fall off this damn roof!_

She heard some moving around and then all of the sudden, Clark was at the front door locking it. _Where was he going?_ From off to the side, Buffy could see Clark looking across the field toward her house. He looked sad as he looked to where she should be right now. She felt bad for leaving so abruptly earlier, but she wasn't going to spill her guts to him right there. And she had been really close to doing so. Between that and Xander's call, it was better for her to do some recon first before getting any more serious with Clark Kent.

Clark stood there for a minute and then—_Whoa._ _Where did he go?_ He whooshed off, like running but way faster, _like me running. _

_Holy shit! _Buffy thought as she barely saw Clark speed off into the night. She jumped off the roof into swift flight, taking to the trees near the road where he was running. She was trying to get a glimpse of him. _Am I really seeing this right now? How can he run so fast? What else can he do? He can't be a slayer? What is he?_ Buffy felt like she was going to hyperventilate from all of her questions. There was no doubt about it though, there he was, running faster than a speeding bullet down the darkened state road. He wasn't even breaking a sweat.

Clark was running toward Metropolis using his super speed, he would be there in less than a few minutes. He could pace himself to be anywhere in any amount of time, tonight he wanted to get the city, but he wasn't necessarily in a hurry. It was dark out tonight, so he didn't notice the small figure flying through the trees to his left. Buffy was keeping herself as quiet as possible, she didn't want to tip him off that she was there. Literally within two minutes, they were on the edge of Metropolis. Clark came to a stop near the entrance to the city and started to walk.

Buffy glided to a nearby billboard and kneeled on top, watching Clark below her. He took out his cell phone and called a saved number. Buffy could hear Chloe's voice on the other line clearly.

"Hey Clark. How was dinner?"

"Hey Chloe. I'm in town where are you?" Clark wanted to see her and ask her for an update and tell her about the scar. _I'll be sure to leave out the touchy feely stuff_. Clark turned red a little at the thought.

"I'm at the Planet, are you—?" Before she could finish her statement, Clark was standing in front of her inside her office at the Daily Planet.

Buffy saw him take off and followed him to the Daily Planet. She sat down on a bench outside near the basement window where she knew he was. _Time to eavesdrop_.

"Well hello there Mr. Kent." Chloe was happy to see her close friend. She walked over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "Hi Chloe. How are things?"

"Things are good Clark, they still have me at this damn desk doing menial labor, but you know it takes time to make the big leagues. Right?" Chloe shuffled some paperwork around on her desk, hiding her disappointment about not being a big name reporter yet. "At least I have you to keep me busy Clark. How was dinner with Miss Mystery?"

Clark sunk down in Chloe's chair. Chloe could tell something bad happened, suddenly concerned. "Clark what happened? You look like, well, like your dog died."

"Thanks for that Chloe. No, it was wonderful. She is funny, smart, and beautiful and we had a great time. Everything about being with her was comfortable, relaxed you know? Near the end of the night, I noticed something on her neck. I moved her hair to the side and there was a scar."

"I'm going to put aside my curiosity about this 'noticing something on her neck' business and skip to, what kind of scar?" Chloe knew something else happened, she could see Clark's face blushing when he got to the neck part.

"Okay," Clark chuckled at his friend. "Well, it was a bite mark. There were two puncture wounds and what looked like another bite over those. It's clearly been a while, they were well healed. But as soon as I saw it, she said she had to go. She said we would talk tomorrow and then she left."

"Weird. Well Clark, you know, this does go with my vampire theory."

_Vampire theory? What vampire theory? What does Chloe know?_ Buffy thought to herself as she sat outside the Daily Planet, listening. _Was Chloe the hacker Willow was dealing with earlier? _

"I know Chloe, it just sounds ridiculous. What does Buffy have to do with vampires? Other than clearly being bitten by one." Clark was perplexed.

"You're sure she isn't a vampire right?"

Buffy scoffed at the question, _me, a vampire, yeah right! Only in my nightmares. _

"I'm sure. She has a heartbeat, I could hear it all night. She honestly just seems to be someone who has gone through a lot. I know she's keeping secrets, but so am I. I just need to know if she's on our side or if she's evil." _Please don't be evil_, Clark hoped to himself.

"Did you get any Krypton vibes from her?" Chloe figured she would cover all of her bases.

_Krypton, what the hell is Krypton? Some kind of demon cult? Please don't be a demon_. Buffy was getting more confused by the minute.

"No, not at all. She didn't show any super strength or speed, but I guess neither do I when I'm hiding from someone. What did you find on your searches?"

_Hiding? What do Krypton, Clark, and super strength and speed have in common? Hmm._ Buffy was putting on her Giles hat and making a genuine effort to connect the dots.

"Let me tell you Clark, I've never been more frustrated in my whole life! I was running some simple encrypted military searches and then at every turn I was getting kicked out. For every firewall I demolished, another stronger one was put up. Whoever was on the other side of that hacker battle royale was seriously in the know."

_Okay, so she was the hacker, looking for answers about how I'm connected to vampires and the military_._ How'd they get to the vampire part? Willow wiped me from the system a long time ago. Maybe we missed something. _

"So, at this point all we know is that the strange deaths all but stopped in Sunnydale after she arrived, then the town imploded and there's nothing on her after that?"

"That's right. For all we know she could be just like you, a hero, her brand of heroism is simply more specialized."

Buffy was glad to hear that they didn't think she was evil or anything, they were still curious about her, but they weren't mobilizing the pitchforks and battle axes. _And, I could be like him, a hero? So he was a hero? Good call Buffy! I knew it was too much of a coincidence, him being in all those news reports. _

"She knows I've seen the scar and so now she's going to build some kind of story for when we talk tomorrow. Should I just tell her I know something? Get it out there?" Clark thought honesty might be the best option right now, especially if they were alike somehow. Maybe they could help each other. _Honesty would certainly help us grow closer. Besides, we've all seen how secrets tear people apart._

"Wow Clark. I am surprised. Opting for honesty instead of secrecy, you must really like this girl. I mean, you know that if you do this, she'll want to know how you know, why you know, why you care, and who you are. If you can handle those questions, then I say go for it. If you want to keep your identity from her, maybe you should just let her tell you whatever story she cooks up." Chloe was surprised at Clark's willingness to be honest with Buffy, but she was also nervous for him. Sharing his secret has had terrible consequences in the past. But also good ones in their case. _Who knows what's best?_

"I don't know either Chloe. I'll see how it goes. I'm just so tired of being alone. Alone in this fight against evil, alone at home, alone in general. She made me feel alive tonight Chloe, laughing and sharing and just being together. I don't want to mess it up, but I know that I need to be careful. Just like I'm sure she's being careful."

Buffy was happy to know that he felt the same way she did about tonight. And to know that he recognized they were both hiding from each other out of cautiousness. _He knew something about her, and now she knew something about him. He could run faster than a speeding bullet, what else could he do? Could they do all the same things? Could he take her in a fight? What would the sex be like? _Buffy was getting increasingly excited at the prospects.

"Clark I'm glad to see you happy, well kind of happy I guess. I think that if she makes you feel that way, you should tell her. If that's what you want to do." Chloe was so happy to hear Clark feeling again, feeling anything. He had been sad for so long, it was time for him to be happy again. _Happiness that doesn't involve Lana! Ugh!_

Clark could hear a fire siren several blocks downtown. He stood up, "Chloe I need to go, there's a fire. Thank you for everything. I'll let you know what happens with Buffy." He leaned down to give Chloe a quick hug and left in a blur.

Buffy heard him getting ready to leave, she had heard the siren too. She flew up the side of the building, not wanting to be seen by Clark. She followed him to the fire. He took a deep breath and blew out the fire, then ran inside to bring people out. Within seconds, the fire was out and people were outside, _how incredible_, Buffy thought. He didn't have a scratch on him.

She watched him for a few hours, saving people all over the city all while going unnoticed. When he ran to go back to Smallville it was close to 2am and she flew ahead of him to go home. She quickly changed and went outside to sit on the porch stairs. She heard him get back to the farm and looked in his direction as he was entering the front door.

Clark smiled to see Buffy at home, sitting quietly outside. He wanted to wave, but knew that she couldn't see him from that far. He looked forward to talking to her tomorrow. They certainly had a lot to discuss.


	15. Chapter 15

Authors note: Thank you everyone for the reviews! I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story.

To clarify about Buffy's new powers, we learn about Buffy's superpowers in the season 8 comic books, specifically issue 31 "Turbulence" and issue 32 "Twilight, Part I." In issue 32, Xander puts Buffy through a series of "superpower" tests, you know, informed from his wealth of superhero knowledge. Buffy can fly very quickly, within minutes she flies to Budapest, England, and other parts of the U.K. She can run faster than a speeding bullet, she catches the bullet after giving it a headstart. She lifts a train car with ease, jokingly asking if one hand would make for a better photo. She has telescopic vision and amplified hearing. She's tried super breath, laser vision, x-ray vision, phasing, and teleporting to no avail. Again, she is receiving these powers whenever a slayer dies, since they were all "called" from her essence in season 7. Since the final battle in season 7, Buffy's tally is 206 slayers have died—all of their strength and power going to back to Buffy each time. So, those are the highlights, thank you for asking. I highly recommend the comic books if you are interested in the nitty-gritty details.

Also, someone asked about Buffy and Clark's ages. Buffy was born in 1981 and when Clark arrived in the meteor shower in 1989, Martha and Jonathan guessed he was about 3 years old, but we know that Clark ages differently than other people. So, given these approximate birth dates Buffy is about 24 and Clark is about 19, or about a 5 year difference. For once Buffy is dating someone younger than her!

Chapter 15

Buffy was overloaded with information, not all of which made complete sense. Usually she had Giles and Willow filtering all the details, after which, they would deliver her the objective. _Slay. Rescue. Retain for questioning_. This was way out of her league. The one thing she did know was that Clark was one of the white hats, _like me_. She smiled knowing that at least her beautiful new friend wasn't evil like the other men she had previously in her life. For however broody and repentant Angel and Spike were over the years, there was no denying that they had racked up quite the body count. And even though Buffy knew she wasn't killing the slayers whose powers she was absorbing, sometimes she felt like a killer too.

She had to admit to herself, though, that she wasn't entirely positive about Clark's track record either. Buffy had her fair share of skeletons in the closet, however figurative they may be—_or literal, my own skeletons from all that dying I've done_. _Or dust from all the vampires I've killed. Or the essence of all the dead slayers my powers come from. _Buffy sighed.

Buffy realized that she knew more about him at this point, than he knew about her. She saw him run super fast, use his super breath, and he had no scratches on him after he came out of the fire. He may or may not be Kryptonian, _whatever that is_, and he liked her. _A lot. _She remembered him saying that she made him feel alive last night. _Alive_. With all the death Buffy has experienced in her life, and he in his, it was time to start feeling alive again.

The sun had risen and still lingered low in the sky when Buffy opened her front door. It was chilly outside at this time in the morning, and after flitting around last night without a sweater, Buffy made sure to pair her black sweater with a long-sleeved grey shirt. She went for the practical boots and comfortable Dockers, unsure of what the day was going to entail. She sat down on the porch stairs with her coffee, still contemplating how to approach the upcoming obstacles between her and Clark.

For the next ten minutes, Buffy found herself grinning at the idea of messing with Clark. He was, after all, still in the dark about her powers. She knew he was expecting her to explain her abrupt exit last night and tell him about her scar. He did say that she didn't need to explain, before he begged her to stay. He was clearly trying to be understanding, even if he didn't know what that meant. Buffy guessed that he knew about Chloe's vampire theory before they had dinner, but probably dismissed it as crazy talk. Then when he felt and saw her scar, he must have known. Some part of him must have known. _But then, what could he really be thinking? Vampires are usually reserved for movies and folklore. _

The only way she was going to find that out would be to talk to him candidly about her history with vampires. She decided that telling him the truth about her being a vampire slayer was probably for the best. Knowing that Chloe was searching into her very long past with the oh so undead fanged ones meant that she couldn't act like she just got bit by a vampire, _or three_, and then that was it. No, she would have to explain everything, all the dirty watcher slayer details. That didn't mean she had to share her new superpowers though, besides, withholding that particular information would probably be safer for her. _And maybe a little bit more fun!_

Clark also didn't know that she had caught him doing a couple of things she probably shouldn't have. _Mmmm, sexy Clark shower time._ Buffy's skin flushed at the memory of him moaning her name last night._ Yeah, I'll probably keep that to myself_. She still didn't know whether to tell him about following him last night either. So, she decided to bring it up if he didn't tell her anything about himself, but until then, she would play up her ignorance about his abilities.

Buffy heard some low motor revving from Clark's house, out near the fields. _Clark must be awake. _She put her coffee cup back inside and then started the short walk over to the Kent farm. _Here goes nothing._


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Clark slept little last night. He lay in bed as the sun rose slowly into the sky, his arms propping his head up. He was glad he repurposed his energy into saving the people of Metropolis, but he still couldn't get Buffy out of his head when he got home late that night. He played her exit through his head over and over. _What had happened to her? _Clark was really concerned about her, knowing what she had been through with Sunnydale and her mom and who knows what else. Maybe Sunnydale's demise had something to do with vampires. Clark was beside himself with questions and images of their night together before he discovered her scar. Her hands running up his chest, the feeling of her lips on his eager and soft. And then she left.

Chloe said Buffy could be on the hero team too, just that her focus was more specialized. _Vampires_. Clark shook his head. He remembered the vampires from Lana's sorority snafu and couldn't imagine that there had been more of them. Let alone a more vicious brand of vampire, like the ones Buffy probably had experience with, _the biting and all that_. Clark knew about Buffy, or at least some of it, and Buffy just thought he was some sad farmer who had just lost his father. There was some truth to that, but not even close to the whole truth. He was an alien. He was earth's salvation. And, he was a farmer.

_I'm going to tell her_. Clark shifted from laying down to sitting at the edge of his bed, looking out the window to the fields. The sunlight touched his bare chest and he could feel his body soaking up its energy. _I'm going to tell her everything._ It felt as natural as wanting to tell her how he felt about her in general. He remembered how natural it had felt sharing his powers with Alicia because she understood what it was like to be different. For however crazy their whirlwind romance had been, _and their marriage_, Clark still felt guilty about her death. If only he had protected her better, if only he had believed she wouldn't attack anyone. _It's like no matter whether I'm honest or keep my secret, people get hurt. _He wasn't sure if telling Buffy was the right thing to do, he didn't know if he was being selfish by telling her. Part of him didn't care, he needed someone in his life, besides Chloe, who understood him. Clark got dressed and went to the front door. He didn't see Buffy outside her house yet, and he didn't want to go over there. He would let her come to him when she was ready.

He went out to the barn with the truck to put some hay bales in the truck bed. He had to keep up the appearance of being a normal farmer, especially with Buffy living so close by. He drove the truck out to a nearby field to work. _More like waiting to see Buffy_. Clark exhaled heavily and threw a bale of hay out into the field with ease.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

He barely heard her approach, his head full of thoughts and his hands full of hay. But Clark could feel her as she came closer, her heat and he could hear her heartbeat as it rose steadily over the last fifteen feet to the side of the truck.

Buffy could see him from the moment she cleared the hill near the field. He was throwing hay from the truck to the field and wasn't even breaking a sweat. _I wouldn't break a sweat either_. Buffy kept walking, getting closer to where he was working. She stared quietly at his muscles as they rippled in the daylight, his dark hair shifting with every move. His jeans fit perfectly on his firm ass as he leaned over and his white t-shirt just barely covered his biceps as they stretched from throwing the bales out of the truck.

_Think Buffy! You know he's pretty to look at, but you have to focus on talking to him now. Serious talking, not kissing or small talking, real life slayer talking. Pull it together_. Buffy debated with herself internally at how she was going to behave around him during this conversation. She would love to walk up to him and kiss him again, touch him again, but knew that she needed to put on her serious face and handle this like an adult.

She walked up to the truck and ran her hand along the blue paint as she approached the end of the truck bed. She leaned against the side of the truck when Clark turned around and started walking back toward her. He smiled at her and then looked at the ground, trying not to look too eager to see her. _Stay calm Kent._

Buffy smiled back, noticing how nonchalant he was trying to seem about her sudden presence. He looked up again to see her smiling back at him. She looked comfortable in her clothes, lounging against the truck with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail with her arms crossed slightly. Her bright green eyes sparkled as he got closer to the truck. She was happy to see him again.

"Hi Buffy." Clark broke the silence first as he stood in front of her now. "Hi." Now that he was standing in front of her, she noticed how gentle his eyes were, how concerned he still was about her leaving last night.

They stood awkwardly for a few seconds, neither knowing how to start this conversation or where it was going to lead. Buffy looked at Clark and around at the rolling fields around them. Clark looked at Buffy and down at the ground. Buffy uncrossed her arms and stood up straight then asked, "How about we take a walk Clark?" Clark nodded and let her take the lead. Buffy and Clark fell into a slow walk next to each other, moving away from their homes and into the farmland.

"Clark, I want you to know that I really did have a wonderful time last night." Buffy looked up at him, seeing doubt cross his face as he looked down. She nudged her arm into his and smiled at him, "Really. I haven't felt that close to someone in a very long time. And I'm sorry that I left so suddenly." Clark half smiled back at her nudge and felt more comfortable as they walked closely to one another. "But, I had to leave." Clark looked at her as she took her turn to look down at the ground.

Buffy noticed a tall windmill off in the distance and started walking in that direction. Buffy sighed deeply before she continued. "I had to leave because I wasn't sure how to tell you about my scar. I would like to say that it's simple, that I was attacked by a dog when I was little or something, but I can't." Buffy's eyes expressed to Clark a deeply felt sadness that he knew had been there since the beginning, but that she had attempted to hide well. Clark's arm wrapped around her body and they stopped for a second as they fully embraced each other. His arms enclosed her small body, pressing her into him with her face pressed against his chest. Her arms grasped him back and she could feel that they both needed this connection again. They needed to touch other no matter how confusing things were.

Clark kissed the top of Buffy's head and said into her hair, "Buffy, I would love to get to know you better. To know everything about you, but I'm not expecting you to share anything with me unless you feel okay with it." Clark wanted to reassure her that he wasn't pressuring her, he just wanted to be with her. "I know Clark, and thank you for being understanding, but I do want to tell you." She pulled back her face to look him in the eyes, "I want to tell you everything." She stepped back and grabbed his hand in hers and they continued walking closer to the windmill. Buffy could see a ladder that lead up to the platform at the top. "Do you ever go up there Clark?"

Clark looked up at the windmill and Chandler's field and remembered the few times he had gone up there with some anxiety. He still didn't like heights very much, which was ridiculous because of his power jumping and floating and maybe flying someday. "Sure, I've been up there a few times. It's pretty stable if you want to go, there is an impressive view of the town."

When they reached the windmill, she started the climb up to the top. Clark followed closely behind her. When they got to the top, Buffy sat down comfortably near the edge, her arms leaning on the rail near her chest. Clark followed suit, albeit slightly more slowly. Once they were sitting down, Clark looked at Buffy to avoid looking down. "Clark, are you nervous?" She thought it was pretty funny that someone like him could be scared of heights. "I've never been a fan of heights, but I'm fine. I'm happy to be here with you." Clark had one of the most sincere faces Buffy had ever seen. She had been around a fair amount of liars and beings with alternative motives and when she looked at him, she didn't see any malevolence. None at all.

They scooted close to each other, their elbows touching on the railing and their hanging feet grazing each other every so often. "Clark, I'm just going to start at the beginning if that's okay." Buffy figured he had never heard of slayers, since he was obviously skeptical of vampires overall. She would have to start at the beginning and walk him through it. Clark nodded. "When I was sixteen I was in school in Los Angeles. I was a cheerleader, super popular, you know the type?" _Oh, how I know the type_. Clark smiled as she continued. "Well I was totally oblivious to the world and its problems, just completely absorbed in my own trivial life. Then everything shattered into a blinding and startling reality. You see, I was chosen. It sounds so pretentious, but believe me it doesn't come with a country club membership or anything. The way my first watcher pitched it to me is that into every generation there is a chosen one, she alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. A slayer—the vampire slayer. So, when I was sixteen I was called for duty in the battle against evil."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Clark was staring at Buffy curiously. "The vampire slayer? As in the only one?" _If only he knew the irony of that question!_ "That's what it meant back then, yeah. Only one girl in all the world to fight the good fight. Then when she died another slayer would be called." Clark was certainly making the connection between Buffy and vampires now. "That sounds like a lot of responsibility for one person. It sounds really unfair." Clark ached for her, knowing what it was like to have such responsibility to save the world, but he also got the feeling that slayers didn't live for very long if there was a new slayer called in every generation.

"It's never been easy. My first watcher, Merrick, trained me and helped me hone my slayer skills before he died. The basic slayer package comes with increased strength, agility, advanced healing, and super creepy vampire dreams." Clark looked amused, "Creepy vampire dreams?"

"Yeah, sometimes I dream about being a slayer in another time. Or I dream about other slayers and their battles. Sometimes I see images, blood, or symbols that weave together into some type of prophecy. I don't know. They don't exactly come with a decoder ring."

"Anyhow, I was hella resistant to it, sometimes I still am, but ultimately I was it for the world. It was impossible to walk away from all that responsibility knowing that I was the only one that could tip the scales. Anyhow, all these vampires invaded our school dance one night in an attempt to lure me to their master, and the gym wound up burning to the ground with most of them inside. Let me tell you, that was a hard sell to my mom, especially with leaving out the vampire part. They expelled me and between that and all the slayer stuff, my parents got divorced. We moved to Sunnydale after that to start a new life, for both my mom and I. She opened up an art gallery and I went to a new school, met some incredible friends, was assigned a new worrywart watcher Giles, and then tried to go on balancing my duties as the slayer with my life as a teenager. Not easy by the way." Buffy looked up to see Clark smiling a huge smile of understanding, he laughed when he looked at her. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"The years passed and there were a lot of battles. Vampires, demons, magic, other dimensions. Some we won, some we lost…" Buffy paused, there was no getting out of this part. "Sometimes people I loved died and other times I died." Clark looked up at her suddenly, "Died? But—" "Yes, died. I've died twice, well maybe three times but the last time is debatable." Clark moved closer to her, his hand unconsciously rising to touch her back. "Debatable? You sound so casual about it." Buffy was grateful for his move to comfort her. She laid her hand over his. "Believe me Clark, I'm not being casual about it. I've just had a long time to work through it." She knew she would have to tell him about her stint in the coffin at some point and the ways that derailed her for a while, and how sometimes it still does. But not now.

"Life has had its ups and downs, but what happened in the end surprised all of us. The First, as in the First Evil came out of hiding determined to tip the scales back in favor of badness. It promised an end to all of us and it promised to send the world spiraling into darkness. We trained potential slayers, a population of girls we hadn't really thought about previously, but they were the key to everything. There was no way that I was going to be able to fight this fight alone, so my friend Willow and the most powerful witch on this plane of existence, worked a spell that would allow all potential slayers to become slayers. She used my essence as the slayer and filtered it out to every potential slayer. It worked and in the end, we had an army of slayers. But the First had awoken its own army of ubervampires, a species of vampire more vicious than any I had ever encountered. The prospects for winning the final battle were minimal and it became clear that we were going to lose. Someone close to me pulled through in the end though, he died saving all of us." Clark could see the sadness in her eyes as she spoke of that someone, as she spoke of all of this. _She's putting on a good front, but none of this sounds like a happy life. _

"The Hellmouth is what we called the hole in the ground underneath Sunnydale. There are Hellmouths all over the world actually that at any minute could open up and leak darkness into the world. Our last battle took place in the Hellmouth underneath Sunnydale and when it was over, it collapsed taking the town and the ubervamps with it. Those of us still alive barely made it out. Since then, we've relocated to a few different places. The slayer army mobilized to different parts of the globe, much to the chagrin of the US military. They really hate me. In fact they have me on their primary target list as a terrorist, which I'm like so not."

Clark was still processing Buffy's story, trying to make sense of everything she had been through in her time as the slayer. She had been called when she was so young, about the same age he was when he found out he was from another planet. She had lost people and had died herself, maybe three times. He couldn't help but see the parallels in their lives, their losses, their struggles. Buffy looked strong as she sat there next to him, as if although she had been through a lot she had come to a place of peace and understanding about her life. Clark yearned for a similar understanding in his life. Maybe that was why he was drawn to her. Her strength could help him and they could help each other.

He looked up to Buffy looking at him, she was clearly checking him to make sure he wasn't going to break down and run away. His arm was braced behind her back, their outer thights flush against each other. "Clark, I know it's a lot and I—" "Buffy, I know you're probably expecting me to be more surprised than I am. You telling this story to others has probably gone a lot differently in the past. Maybe some yelling and lots of questions. And believe me, I do have lots of questions, but I also know what it's like to live with a secret. An unusual and sometimes tragic secret."

Clark shifted and leaned back on his arms. He looked up at the sky and he could feel Buffy's eyes on him. His eyes met hers and he knew that she would protect his secret, as she had trusted him to protect hers. "I'm not exactly from around here Buffy. I had always known that I was adopted, my parents were honest with me about that from the beginning. Then weird things started happening. I could run fast, I could hear from far away, I was strong. When I was a teenager, I was getting stronger and faster. I freaked out. I didn't know what it all meant, sometimes I still don't. All I wanted was to be normal. That's when my father told me the truth. In 1989 when the meteor shower hit Smallville, I arrived with the meteors inside a spaceship. My parents kept it in the storm cellar until they were ready to tell me. They didn't know how I got here or from where, but they found me in a field after the meteors hit."

Buffy could feel the pain radiating off Clark as he spoke. He blamed himself for everything that had happened since the meteors came. All of it. She turned and faced him, reaching out her hand to lie on top of his. "If you're not from here, then where are you from?" "I'm from a planet called Krypton. Civil war divided the people and the planet was destroyed along with almost the entire population. Only a few of us escaped. My biological mother and father sent me here. My parents and I didn't know a lot about the details. I learned some information over time and I continue to search for answers. I still struggle with my purpose here on Earth, but from what I gather my destiny is to help those in need and maintain the balance of justice."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_Krypton_, Buffy thought. _At least it's not a demon cult_. They had both suffered in their lives, lost their homes and their loved ones. Been presented never ending obstacles and they were still here. They were together sitting atop this windmill in the middle of a farm sharing their incredible and tragic stories of sacrifice and salvation.

Clark didn't expect Buffy to react with shock or awe as others had, but he had expected some surprise. Instead, he got her looking at him with a smile, a huge smile. Then she starting laughing. She was laughing so hard she crumpled over with tears in her eyes. He didn't know why she was laughing, but Clark couldn't help but laugh with her. They were both hysterical after a minute or so, neither knowing quite what was so funny.

Her voice cracked as she laughed and said, "You know, I've seen some freaky things in my lifetime, but this is a new one. Look at us up here, the vampire slayer and the alien savior. We are quite a pair." Buffy looked to him now, seeing the relief in his eyes and knowing she was reflecting the same relief back at him. "I have to admit something else to you Clark. When I first came here I searched the town's archives for homicide reports or strange deaths, you know looking for signs of vampires. And while I didn't find anything of that sort, I found a lot of other strange things. And you were in the reports quite a bit. I had a hard time tying you to what was going on here, but now I know that you've been saving people here for years, haven't you?"

Clark nodded, "Yeah. Especially since most of the strange things that have happened here in Smallville are meteor related and I felt, feel, guilty for causing it all in the first place. Most of my time in high school felt like I was cleaning up my own cosmic mess." Buffy could understand that guilt. She and the Scoobies had orchestrated the slayer spell and now it felt like a big mess. At least for Buffy, since she was benefitting from all of their deaths.

Clark sat up straight and decided to fess up too. "I have a confession too. Your searches of The Torch and of my name set off some alarms over at Chloe's. She keeps track of web searches and breaches in case anyone gets too close to finding out about me. We've always been nervous of people finding out my secret and locking me up, conducting experiments and the like. Chloe did some backtracking and found out you were pretty much wiped from the system. This concerned her, so she's been trying to find out more about you. I'll tell her to stop now, it's probably not good for your cover from the military for us to be running searches on you." "Yeah, you're probably right. And she's got my friend Willow working overtime countering her hacks. They should meet sometime."

Clark and Buffy, the vampire slayer and the Kryptonian, sat together in silence for a few minutes. They were still mulling over all the information they had just exchanged and were trying to figure out if any of it was bad news. Buffy started, "Well now that we kind of know the basics about each other, is there any reason for alarm? Should I pack up and leave for another small town? Too many heroes in one town, time to move on?" The idea of Buffy leaving when he had just found her was inconceivable to Clark. "Do you want to leave?" Clark felt insecure, but needed to know that if she stayed it was because she wanted to and not because he was going to be selfish and beg her to stay.

They were still sitting atop the windmill and Buffy sat up and moved closer to sit in front of Clark. She cupped his face in her small hands, forcing him to look directly into her eyes. "Absolutely not. I just found you, how could I possibly want to leave? I'm here as long as you'll have me Clark Kent."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Clark was ecstatic hearing those words from her. He crushed his lips to hers and moved his hands to her hips to bring her body closer to his. He pulled her onto his lap as they deepened their kiss. It felt as if they had never stopped kissing the night before. Buffy's tongue massaged Clarks as her fingers ran through his silky hair. Clark's hands went underneath her sweater and gripped her back and Buffy's legs tightened around his waist, their sitting forms pressed firmly against each other. They kissed each other lightly before embracing each other, Buffy's head resting on Clark's shoulder.

"We're still up here for the entire world to see you know," Buffy said after looking around and remembering that it was still daylight and they were still at the top of the windmill. They had been lost in each other for a few minutes and everything had simply faded away. "I know." Clark pulled back from Buffy to look at her, his arms still around her. "Can I look at your scar now without you running away?" Clark asked playfully. Buffy chuckled, "Yeah." With her hair up today, the scar was visible. Clark reached up to gently run his fingertips over the smoothed over scar. "I know it looks nasty, but it's been a really long time. It's actually three separate bites healed over each other." Clark's eyes squinted in surprise, "Three?" "Yeah, the first time was this big bad the Master, he bit me and left me to drown in a pool of water. My friend Xander brought me back."

"That was the first time you died?" Clark was curious, still looking between her eyes and her scar, all the while enjoying the feeling of her in his lap. "Sure was. I wasn't out long though. The second time, well that's more complicated. You see I used to date this vampire named Angel—" "A vampire? Really? But you're a slayer?" Buffy let out a sigh of exasperation, "Yes, yes, I know. Angel had a soul though, some gypsy thing. Whatever. He was poisoned this one time and only the blood of a slayer could heal him. I let him bite me to save his life. He wasn't exactly nice about it though. The last time was fucking Dracula. Grrghh!" Buffy looked frustrated as she said his name and rolled her eyes a little. Clark was amused though, he couldn't help but smile. "Dracula, huh? Bela Lugosi or Gerard Butler." Buffy laughed, "Try Gerard Butler meets Stuart Townsend from Queen of the Damned. He used his oogey-boogey enthrallment on me and I didn't even know he had bitten me. I did not like being Dracula's bitch, Xander even less so. He made Xander his henchman during the daytime and made him eat spiders this one time. Then the three sisters seduced Giles, yeah. No fun. So, that's the story of the scar."

Clark smiled, "Thank you for sharing." He reached his hand up her back to grip her shoulder as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her scar. His lips moved against it softly, just barely lingering before kissing up her jaw back to her lips. She kissed him back when his lips met hers again. They kissed for another moment before Buffy broke away, "So, how much do you wanna bet I can take you in an arm wrestle?"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Clark laughed at her, "Yeah, sure Buffy." Buffy chuckled at his sarcasm, "Clark, I'm serious." She moved to get off his lap and lay down on her stomach. He followed suit and they both lay down on their stomachs facing each other. "This is a terrible idea Buffy." Clark knew his strength and knew that she was going to lose big time. "I'll tell you what Clark, don't let me win or anything okay? I'll match whatever strength you use and we'll see how it goes. You're not going to hurt me."

Clark was nervous, yet excited because she sounded sure of herself. _There's no way she's going to beat me. No way._ They balanced themselves on one arm and their hands met in the middle gripping each other comfortably. His hand swallowing hers. Buffy was excited, she knew this wasn't going to be easy, but at least she knew she had a shot. "Ready? One, two, three!"

Buffy felt Clark's arm pushing down against hers, his face showing zero strain, and she started to push back. Their hands were just past the middle, to Clark's advantage. She played along a little and acted strained against Clark's muscled arm. She gave a little grunt, pretending he was too strong for her and pursed her lips slightly. In reality, she wasn't struggling the tiniest bit. _He's probably taking it easy too._ "Had enough Buffy?" Clark was smiling smugly as he had Buffy's hand almost to the floor of the platform. _Piece of cake. _

"Enough? Mmmmm, not even." Buffy stopped pretending. Quickly her face changed from one of frustration and defeat to one of playfulness. The change in her strength was noticeable and Clark struggled against her, employing his full strength. His cheeks puffed out as he exhaled deeply and his brow scrunched as he looked at her. Her eyes were mischievous and dazzling as she now showed no evidence of a struggle. She engaged her full strength and slammed his arm down to the platform. Clark was surprised. He thought he had her. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Increased slayer strength, huh?" Buffy sat up, looking proud of herself, "Well, I've gotten stronger over the years."

Clark didn't buy it, "Uh huh, right. How did you—No, you know never mind. I like this game. What else should we do? You know, I bet that I could beat you at a race." Buffy was excited that he had caught on to the game so quickly, she wanted to know how well matched their powers were too. "Really now?" "Yes, really. How about we get down from here and race back to the truck, what do you say?" Clark was less skeptical of her abilities this time, but was still pretty sure that he was going to win this race. Buffy was amused by Clark's sudden competitiveness. She really should tell him about her superpowers. _But that would take the fun out it._ "Okay Clark, if you say so."

They climbed down from the windmill and when they got to the ground, Clark moved to one side and Buffy to the other, giving each other space. "Okay Buffy, to the truck. Ready, set, go!" WHOOOSH! They both took off in parallel blurs toward the truck. When Clark looked over to Buffy's side, he could see that she was keeping pace with him, _how is she moving so damn fast._ Buffy could see Clark running like he did last night. Within seconds, they both reached the truck at the same time. Neither out of breath and both were looking at each other. Buffy leaned against the truck, "Clark, I'd say that was a tie." Clark didn't want to admit it, but she was right. If there had been a difference it was way too close to call. "Yeah, yeah." Clark couldn't help staring at her, she was magnificent. She had strength and speed comparable to him, _more than him perhaps_, and she was beautiful and down to earth. She was a vampire slayer in a town filled with meteor freaks and aliens, _of course she'll fit in here,_ Clark thought.

He walked up to her and rested his arms on her shoulders. "Ms. Summers, you are an incredible woman." Clark leaned down and kissed her gently. "Since you're here for as long as I'll have you, which I anticipate being a while, I suggest that we keep getting to know each other better." She smiled, her teeth gleaming in the sunlight. Then she stood tall and kissed him back.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

When they kissed everything melted away until it was just them, the sun, the grass and the farm were all distant memories while their lips touched. Their hands roamed up and down each other's backs and they pressed their bodies firmly together. Clark's tongue softly entered Buffy's mouth, massaging hers. Despite their comparable abilities, he was still incredibly tall and Buffy was on her tiptoes as they moved closer to each other. Buffy pulled back and looked into Clark's hooded eyes, she could see the effect she had on him. She wished she could fly them somewhere more private so she could show him how much she wanted him too. He didn't want to hold back with Buffy and for the first time he felt like he could be himself, he could be strong around her and not break her. He could be honest.

"Buffy, as much as I would love to keep kissing you right now, I need to know something." Clark wanted to know how she could be so strong, so fast and be a vampire slayer. He didn't imagine that particular calling required such powers, _maybe I'm underestimating her responsibilities_.

Buffy didn't want to keep this from him, but worried that he would push her away, horrified. After all, she had run far away from her friends and life to get away from this particular truth about herself. "Yes, Clark?" She stepped back from him, leaning against the truck once again. They had been out in the field for a few hours now and the afternoon sun was high and moving across the sky. No noise came from the roads and they both would know if anyone came close.

Clark moved to sit on the open truck bed door, sliding one hip to sit with one leg touching the ground. "You know when you listed the things that come with the basic slayer package earlier, I really thought the strength and speed inherent to the slayer line would be far less than you've shown me. Your powers are just like mine. I'll tell you though, now that I know about your strength, I bet I could take you at an arm wrestle rematch." Clark smiles at her playfully, she smiles back. Clark's eyebrows furrow again quickly, "But, no. Really, Buffy, what aren't you telling me?" Buffy knew it was coming and knew that he was probably going to tell her to leave. This was the newest of all the wounds—the mass grave that boosted her powers was still fresh.

Buffy moved to pace in front of him. "You're right Clark. I haven't been completely honest. The truth is I wanted to mess around with you a little, I thought it would be fun. But also, the truth isn't so great. It's pretty frightening to me actually, and I'm still working through it. In fact, that's why I left, why I'm here. You could say I'm running or that I'm searching for a new start, either way it's the truth."

Clark could tell that she was struggling with this. "Buffy, whatever it is, we can talk it out. I'm not running for the hills anytime soon, believe me, I have plenty of baggage too."

Buffy felt reassured knowing that Clark understood and probably had his own unhappy truths. "Well, you remember that spell I told you Willow worked, the one where all potential slayers became bona fide slayers?" Clark nodded. "Willow used my essence as the slayer to call all of them. We knew that I would be connected to them because of the spell, but what we didn't know was how strong the connection would be." Buffy was still pacing, glancing up at Clark with worried eyes and wringing her hands together. "Slowly, I started getting stronger and faster and we didn't know why. I could see and hear from farther and farther away. Then," Buffy stopped pacing and looked Clark in the eye. "Then, I floated."

Clark's eyes widened. "Floated? How high?" Clark was reeling, he had floated before too, but couldn't manage to fly. _Then there is that fear of heights_. "At first it was just a few feet off the ground and it was sporadic. Then Willow trained me, she had a hunch that I could full fledge fly, but that I just didn't know how to control it. With her help, I learned how to fly on my own, more than just a few feet off the ground to say the least. We still couldn't figure out why though. Then there was this one battle, these huge, Godzilla-sized Tibetan goddesses were supposed to help us, but they went AWOL and started killing us instead. A bunch of girls died all at once and I felt this surge of power. Rather than the slow steady build I had been experiencing, this rush happened suddenly. Willow figured it out, she's smart like that." Buffy looked down at the ground, shuffling her shoes against the dirt. "Since we did the spell, nearly 210 slayers have died around the world, a good amount of them during the battle in Tibet. That's when we realized that my increased abilities were because of their deaths. They became slayers because of me and when they die, their essence comes back to me." Buffy saw a dark sadness cross Clark's eyes. She couldn't hold back the tears from welling in her eyes, "I benefit from their deaths Clark. I ran away when we figured it out because they shouldn't have to live around someone who gets more powerful when they die. " Her chin was trembling remembering her confession to Xander, "Clark, it makes me a vampire."

Clark's heart was breaking for her, he knew what it was like to feel like all you did was cause pain. He went to her and wrapped her in his arms. He pressed her head into his chest and caressed her hair as she cried against him, her shoulders shaking with each sob. "It's okay Buffy, you're okay. I know what it's like to be the cause of inconceivable pain and suffering. Just my being here on earth has cost so many lives and," Clark paused, feeling awash in shame at the memory of his father's death. "My selfishness killed my father Buffy." He felt her move to look up at him, her eyes shining from her crying. She looked at him curiously.

"It's true. I loved someone Buffy and for a long time I kept my secret from her, it was too hard. I wanted a normal life with her and I couldn't do that with all the secrets. I finally told her about me, she was ecstatic that I finally confided in her. I finally thought we were going to have a chance to be happy. But the night of my dad's senate election, she was driving and collided with a school bus. She died Buffy and I didn't know what to do." Clark's face was flushed and he could feel the cool prick of tears touching his cheeks. Buffy rubbed his arms as she listened, she had lost enough loves of her life to know what that felt like.

"I begged for a second chance. It's complicated but I have access to the knowledge of my people in this ice structure in the Arctic. There I can speak to a form of my biological father Jor-El. I begged him to fix it, to bring her back. He told me there would be consequences, but I didn't care." Clark released Buffy from his arms and paced around her, gesturing in shameful anger. "I didn't care Buffy and I told him to do it. He started the day over, leaving only me to know what had happened. I ended it with Lana and I told myself that she was better off without me in her life. As the new day continued, my dad won his senate seat like before and Lana was safe. I thought everything was fine. Then," Clark stopped and looked up at Buffy with immense pain in his eyes. "My mom and I had just arrived home and my dad stumbled out in front of the car. He was having a heart attack and he died in our arms that night. It was my fault Buffy, that was the consequence and I didn't care." Clark couldn't hold his tears back, he had never told anyone the truth about what happened with Lana and his dad. It was the darkest of all his secrets and to say it out loud was both a painful reminder and a catharsis.

Buffy could imagine his pain, she remembered feeling that all the supernatural energy surrounding her life and Dawn's had somehow caused her mother's illness and death. But in her case it had been a natural death, an early and sudden death, but a natural one. Clark had manipulated the natural order by bringing Lana back to life, just like Buffy's friends had when they brought her back from the dead. She still felt the consequences of their bringing her back, knowing that for however much good she's done she's also caused death and loss.

Clark whispered, "I've never told anyone before." She went to him and put her hands on his face, bringing his eyes to hers. "In this life things happen that don't make sense, in sequences and ways that we aren't meant to understand. We experience unimaginable grief and act irrationally. You could not have known what the consequences would be, that your father would die. Just like, we could not have known the consequences of the slayer spell. You and I lead complicated lives and we make life and death decisions every day. We're not perfect and we make mistakes, we just have to recognize that our mistakes sometimes come at a much higher cost than other people's mistakes. Clark, I'm so sorry that you lost your father and that you didn't have anyone to talk to. I'm here now, Clark. You know that, right?"

Clark nodded, grateful. He could never have imagined having someone in his life that he could share this with, share everything. Even Chloe wouldn't be able to understand or look at him without disappointment and he could never have talked to his mom. He closed his eyes as Buffy brushed the tears off his cheeks with her hand. Clark leaned his cheek into her palm allowing her to comfort him. His hands moved to her neck, rubbing his thumb softly against her skin. "I'm sorry that you feel like you're stealing power from the other slayers, you have no control over that, you know? It's a random consequence like you said and you are right. All we can do is move forward and try to make better decisions." He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

Buffy saw in him herself, her struggles and triumphs, love and loss, power and weakness. Still with their eyes closed Buffy said, "Clark, we have a lot to work through you and I. After lives filled with secrets, losses, and betrayals, we have quite a lot to share and show each other. Our pain isn't going to go away easily, and I'm tired of going through it alone."

Clark opened his eyes, "Me too Buffy. I've been alone in this for so long, I'm tired too." Buffy looked at him, he's so beautiful and he's barely hanging on. _I'm barely hanging on_. "We need each other, don't we?" Buffy was worried that he would shut down at any moment, as if they had gone far enough. That he would suddenly connect the dots and realize that she was so much more fucked up than he was. Clark saw the insecurity flash in her eyes. He smiled and closed the short distance between them to kiss her softly. "I know I need you, Buffy. You make me feel alive and our honesty with each other gives me hope. Maybe we can find some peace in our extraordinary lives if we're in it together."

Buffy's fears dissipate at Clark's words, knowing now that they could do this together. They could work through their issues and find a balance together. She flings her arms around his neck, crushing her lips to his for a moment. "I'm in Clark." She kisses him again, this time knowing that he wasn't going to run and that they weren't going to be alone any longer. They had each other and for the first time, in a long time, that was enough.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The military grade countering Chloe was experiencing trying to search for Buffy Summers was incredibly frustrating. Chloe sat in the computer archive at the Daily Planet, it was early in the morning and there was barely anyone else in the basement at this hour. She figured it would be the perfect time for some more hacking. Chloe typed furiously at her keyboard, which was surrounded by empty coffee cups and little pieces of popcorn and M&Ms. Her usually combed blonde bob was slightly disheveled and her inquiring eyes were intense as they scanned the computer screen.

"What?! No! Dammit!" Chloe had broken through a few firewalls only to be confronted with several new firewalls. "Who is she that she needs this type of security?!" Chloe was almost ready to give up when she got through for a quick second. She was able to access a picture of Buffy. It looked like an investigative photograph taken from afar. "Ooo, she's pretty," Chloe said to herself. "You go Clark." A few more photos popped up, one of a dark haired man with an eye patch and another of a redhead with green eyes. As quickly as they had appeared, they were taken down and replaced with a nasty virus. The computer flashed red and then there was a bunch of code and then it turned off completely. "Oh crap! They are not going to be happy about this," Chloe exhaled her long-held breath slowly as she stood in front of the dilapidated computer.

All of the sudden, the fluorescent lights started flickering and Chloe felt a surge of electricity in the room around her. Her eyes widened as sparks of whispy purple smoke flitted around the room. It came out of nowhere and started building into a mass of swirling purple mist. A bright white light manifested from the middle of the smoke and enveloped the whole room, Chloe rushed to cover her eyes from the blinding light. Her eyes were still covered when a voice boomed in front of her, "What business do you have with Buffy Summers?!"

Chloe slowly uncovered her eyes, sliding her fingers down to just below her eyelashes. Standing in front of her was the redhead from the photo she was just looking at a few seconds ago. Except now, a white light illuminated her silhouette, her eyes were dark and intense. She looked super pissed and her teeth were on edge as she shouted her question at Chloe again. "I said, what business do you have with Buffy Summers?!"

Chloe was still in shock and stood there as if enclosed in ice. "Um, I… I was. Yeah," Chloe smiled her bright smile of innocence and confusion as she stumbled through her words. Willow noticed how normal and human-like the woman sitting in front of her was, which was completely unexpected given the degree of fervor with which their network was being hacked. Willow fully expected a demon hoard to be holed up somewhere trying to find the slayer and her army to annihilate.

Chloe noticed the redhead's eyes soften slightly, but she was still clearly on a mission. "Obviously you know that I've been searching up on Buffy, and clearly you're not happy so just let me explain." Willow crossed her arms and leaned more heavily on one leg, showing that she relaxed but was still impatient. She waved her hand, indicating that Chloe should continue. "So, a friend of mine told me about her, she just moved into the town where we grew up. She was searching some things about the town and about him and I got nervous. It would seem that we are both quite overprotective of our friends. I was running some searches on her to make sure she's not dangerous, you know the femme fatale type. Clark deserves someone that's not dangerous, evil, or crazy. That's all. Call it running a background check on my friend's new romantic interest. Okay?" Chloe was still standing behind the computer desk, her whole body rigid with anxiety.

Willow could tell that the girl meant what she said and it went along with what Xander told her after he talked to Buffy recently. She just couldn't let it go with how focused the hacker was to gain access to information on Buffy. She needed to be sure that their whole operation wasn't in danger. So she pulled out some of her showy magic tricks and teleported here to scare the culprit. Luckily, the girl didn't seem to have any malevolent intentions and she was certainly scared, not a reaction an evil demon hoard would have. Willow dropped the magic show and now it was just her and Chloe standing together in a normal room, like normal people.

"Woah! How did you do that?" Chloe relaxed but was still wary of the redhead. "My name is Willow, I'm a close friend of Buffy's. I was also worried that someone dangerous was scrounging up information on her, so I came here to check and to scare whoever was doing it. Hence the magic show, witchcraft isn't usually for that sort of thing, but it works pretty well on the civilians."

"Civilians? Witchcraft?" Chloe remembered her little witchy possession and her magic spree, but thought this was probably more of a lifestyle. "Sorry, our operation is pretty militarized nowadays, so it's easy to get caught up in the language. The witchcraft part is pretty self explanatory." "I'm Chloe, I'm a friend of Clark's, and he's who told me about Buffy." Chloe reached her hand out slowly to Willow for a shake because it sounded like they were going toward casual conversation and less with the ooo scary scary. Willow reached her hand out too and they shook hands. Now that she was sure that Chloe was no danger, Willow took a second to observe Chloe. _She's really pretty, and smart enough to keep me angry and frustrated for the last few days._ "It's nice to meet you Chloe, I've never been given so much trouble with the computer side of things before. Kudos, you're really incredible."

Chloe blushed at the compliment, and perhaps the way Willow was now looking at her. "Thanks Willow, you won though, this computer is trashed now because of that last virus." Willow walked over to the computer, near Chloe and put her hand on top of the tower, while looking at Chloe. Within seconds the computer whizzed back to life, "Good as new," Willow said. Chloe's surprise was apparent, "You just fixed it with your hand, just like that?" Willow smiled, "Well it's a lot more than just like that, but yeah, I mended its broken energy and now it'll work better than before." Willow smiled sheepishly at Chloe, _Bad Willow! Stop having naughty thoughts about your ex-hacker-nemesis. Maybe I will when she stops being so cute!_

Chloe laughed her infectious laugh and smiled up to her eyes, she couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something powerful and intense about Willow. She used to feel the same way about Clark when he would look at her like that. "Well, now that you know who I am and that I'm not evil or dangerous, how are you going to get back to wherever you came from?" Chloe was genuinely curious. "I'll teleport back to base, it won't take too long. I was going to stop and see Buffy, but I think she would rather have a bit of time to herself. And now I know that she's in friendly hands, I feel comfortable leaving her as is." "Where is base, if you don't mind me asking?" Chloe asked, intrigued. "Well I do mind, but I don't mind telling you as long as you keep it a secret. The military is on our ass like big time." Chloe found the irony of Willow asking her to keep a secret palpable, "Your secret is safe with me."

"Our base is currently in Scotland, but we move around a little. Since Buffy left, with her being our commander and all, we've had to close ranks a little more and make sure we're keeping everyone safe. They operate in splinter cells all over the world." Chloe's eyebrows knitted together in bewilderment, _commander? _"They who?"

Willow smiled knowingly, "Well Chloe, you already know the answer now don't you? You should have put enough information together to figure it out by now." Chloe thought for a second, _the vampires_. "I know Buffy has something to do with lowered death rates, mysterious homicides, and vampires. I also know that Sunnydale didn't collapse into a sinkhole, there's no way. But I'm still foggy on the exact connection between all these details." Willow looked impressed, "The connection is in two words: vampire slayer. Buffy was called as the slayer when she was sixteen, she fights against the forces of darkness, demons, and vampires. When I say 'they' I mean the thousands of other slayers who were called using Buffy's essence about a year ago. It was an intricate, powerful spell that we worked just in time for the big battle that swallowed up Sunnydale."

Chloe was taken aback, "You're serious?" Willow grinned, "Oh yeah." Chloe smiled and laughed to herself softly, "You know, this is just awesome. It seems that Clark has finally found himself another hero, someone he can probably open up to." Willow was surprised to hear her talk about Clark and Buffy as if they were already dating, "Are they an item or something?" "They had dinner and he sounds like he likes her a lot. He actually said he was going to tell her the truth about himself and be honest with her about his feelings for her, so we'll see." Willow looked concerned, "Truth about himself? What's wrong with him?" Chloe laughed out loud, "Oh, nothing is wrong with Clark Kent. Absolutely nothing, he is a wonderful friend, beautiful to look at, and the best person I know. As for the specifics, no dice. That's his secret to tell." Chloe quirked her mouth to one side and shrugged, showing her unwillingness to divulge any further. Willow thought, _beautiful to look at huh, damn, she's probably straight. Oh well_. "That's fair, maybe Buffy will get around to telling me someday or if I ever meet Clark."

"For someone who is so concerned about her friend, it doesn't seem like you know a whole lot about what's going on in Buffy's life, what's that about?" Willow couldn't deny that Chloe's honest question cut her to the quick, she inhaled slowly. "You're right. We went to high school together, have been best friends ever since. And through ups and downs we've stuck together. But everything got to be too hard for her, for all of us. We're not exactly fighting or anything, but Buffy just felt that she needed some time to pull herself back together. She's been through a lot over the years and because of her calling she's never been able to take a break, to just be for a little while. Without the demon, vampire, family drama. The catalyst for her exit, well we're still trying to work through that because even though she feels like she caused something terrible to happen, in reality she didn't."

Chloe nodded, absorbing what Willow was telling her. "So Buffy thinks she caused something bad and ran away?" Willow pursed her lips contemplating Chloe's interpretation, "I guess. Because we used Buffy's essence to call all the potential slayers, whenever they die their power goes back to Buffy. It's seemingly multiplicative because she keeps getting stronger and faster and she can fly now too. But despite her increased ability to positively impact the world, the source has her all torn up. She thinks she's sucking the life out of them, that she's benefitting somehow from their death. In a way she is, but there is not intent there, no malice. She couldn't be around the other slayers anymore knowing where her new powers come from. So she left in search of distance and some semblance of a normal life." Chloe listened intently, hearing incredible similarities between Buffy and Clark's lives. "Clark struggles with his identity and whether he causes other people's pain too. It's funny because 'I just want to have a normal life' crosses his lips pretty often as well. Clark just lost his father to a heart attack and he's been having a hard time opening up about it. I hope they can help each other."

Willow agreed, "Yeah, maybe they will. Chloe, it has been wonderful meeting you, truly. I apologize for the scary Willow face when I arrived, I'm glad we were able to move past that and have a nice conversation."

"Absolutely, I promise to stop running searches on Buffy now that you've told me most of what I was looking for. Good luck in Scotland and with the military. If you ever need an additional computer hacker, feel free to give me a buzz or a teleport." Chloe reached out her hand again to Willow, but Willow walked closer to Chloe and hugged her instead. For the slightest of moments, Willow relished in Chloe's warmth and fragrant perfume. "I will certainly let you know, thanks for the offer. Do me a favor and keep an eye on them, I don't want to intrude but you let me know if anything crazy happens, okay?" Willow handed Chloe a piece of paper with her cell and Xander's cell, just in case. "I will, here's my info too, I hope you teleport safely." After Chloe handed Willow the slip with her information on it, Willow smiled and disappeared. Chloe stepped back, "Whoa."


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's note:** Thank you everyone for the reviews! I'm glad everyone is still enjoying and following the story. I know there is some skepticism about Buffy's powers, and to that, again, I recommend reading the comic books. Xander actually compares Buffy's new powers to all of Superman's powers, something that sparked my imagination for this story. They are both extraordinary with different origins for their powers. Clark is more powerful than Buffy in some ways and Buffy is more powerful or almost as powerful as Clark in other ways. Ultimately, their comparability will bring them closer together.

**Explicit warning:** This chapter contains (the long awaited) explicit sexual interactions between Clark and Buffy. Please do not read if easily offended by graphic, erotic prose.

Chapter 24

Clark and Buffy spent the rest of the afternoon pitting their powers against one another. Clark was delighted to see Buffy fly into the air with ease, something he hoped to do someday. He promised to let her take him on a flight soon, but for today, he wanted his feet on the ground. They tested their hearing and vision, finding them to be close, but with Clark having a bit of an edge from all his years of controlling his powers. Clark's heat vision, super breath, and x-ray vision all surprised Buffy, since she had none of those. She didn't even know they were possibilities. _Must be a Kryptonian thing_.

Clark smiled and blushed when he x-rayed through Buffy's clothes to see that she was wearing a black bikini thong. She slapped him on the arm when she figured out what he was doing, thinking it wasn't fair that he got a sneak peek and she didn't. _I'll have to remember that look._ They had a rematch and Clark bested Buffy this time at the arm wrestle, but they still found their strength to be comparable. They both took turns lifting tractors and trucks around the farm, racing around the fields, up, down and back again. Clark admitted that he could put his whole arm in the wood chipper without the slightest scratch and that actually the machine would bend to his arm. Buffy was astounded by that, _he truly is indestructible_. Buffy admitted that it wasn't the case for her, she could still be wounded and bleed and break bones, but her healing was on overdrive, so scratches healed in seconds, breaks healed in minutes. She hadn't been shot in over a year, but she imagined that would heal fast too. So, she wasn't quite indestructible, but she healed really fast.

Clark was glad to know that she was going to be safe and could obviously take care of herself, even though she could still be wounded, she would be able to walk, or run or fly, away from most accidents. They would just have to be careful that she didn't get put through any plane propellers any time soon. Clark was ecstatic to be able to share his abilities with someone else. He was already so comfortable around her. In the few days they had spent together, Clark was mesmerized by her smile and her laughter, he felt her pain when she cried, and he could be exactly himself around her. Whether that was broody, reflective Clark, or happy and playful Clark, she accepted him for him, just as he accepted her. He was right when he guessed that she had been through a lot and he looked forward to working through their respective issues together, the ones he knew about and the ones he didn't.

When they woke up this morning, both confused and concerned about the other, they had decided to share their secrets with one another, to share everything. And they had, they shared more with each other today than they felt they had with others over the years. It was an exhausting and fun day filled with emotion and release, running and lifting, and the most glorious kissing. When they concluded their field tests for the day, Clark offered Buffy and human ride back to the farmhouse. She accepted, of course. The ride back was calm and they held hands on the middle seat as country music played quietly from the radio. Every now and again, she would catch him glancing over at her, his bright smile shining back at her. She would squeeze his hand in return. They enjoyed the quiet slowness of the truck ride back across the field. It was so normal and human of them.

The truck lumbered to a stop near the barn and Clark put the parking brake on and turned to look at Buffy. The sun was going down slowly behind them, the daylight still playing through Buffy's blonde hair, making her glow. Clark couldn't help but look at her, "Buffy, you're so beautiful. You should know how happy I am when I'm around you. I know you were looking for normal and you found Smallville and me instead, but I cannot imagine never knowing you, never hearing you laugh or cry, or feeling you in my arms. I'm incredibly lucky that you found your way to me."

Buffy smiles at him and in a blur is standing outside the driver's side door opening it. She steps close to him while he is still sitting and caresses his cheek with her hand, "Clark, I would rather have you and this than normal any day." With that, she leans in and kisses him hard. She runs her fingers through his soft hair, pulling his face closer to hers. In another blur Clark steps out of the car and pulls Buffy against his body, they are suddenly up in Clark's room. Buffy barely felt the transition, but could see the change of scenery. Outside the sun is setting and bright orange light floods the room around them.

Clark stands in front of Buffy, still holding her tightly against his body. Buffy's hands fist in Clark's hair tugging slightly. Clark's hands grip Buffy's back as he explores her mouth with his tongue. He is consuming her, silently telling her that he wants her in every way. His hands dip down to her ass gripping her as he lifts her up against him, coaxing her to wrap her legs around him. He pushes her against the nearest wall and moves his lips down her cheek, laying kisses along her jaw. Buffy lifts her face up closing her eyes as she feels his soft lips kiss down her neck and the wall at her back. She loses herself in the sensation of him pushing his body into hers, pinning her to the wall. Clark's fingers bite into Buffy's thighs holding her to him. One of Clark's hands sneak up Buffy's side, letting his fingers explore her slender hip and stomach, his thumb just barely brushing the swell of her breast. Buffy can feel Clark's dick pulsing through his jeans as he pushes his pelvis into hers. She wants to feel all of him on her, in her. "I want you, I want all of you," Buffy's voice is hoarse with desire as she whispers into Clark's ear and nibbles on his lobe.

Buffy uncurls her legs from around Clark's waist and moves them toward the bed, their lips meeting again in a passionate kiss. Clark feels the edge of his bed behind his legs and sits down pulling Buffy onto his lap, hers knees bending at his sides. Buffy pulls away as she grabs the hem of his shirt and yanks it up, Clark complies. As soon as the shirt is off, Buffy's mouth returns to Clark's feverishly. His skin is soft and she can feel the hard muscle rippling beneath as her hands run up and down his back. Her fingertips scrape up Clark's abdomen muscles and up his chest until her hands wrap around his neck. Buffy grinds down on his lap, she can feel herself getting wetter as she feels her core rubbing against Clark's cock several layers removed.

Suddenly Clark lifts Buffy up as he stands and places her back on the bed. He kisses her lightly and she feels his fingers lifting up her sweater and shirt together. He throws the clothes aside and kisses her again. "Buffy, I want to see you, feel all of you," Clark leans forward and runs his hands up her stomach, loving how soft she feels. His hands cup her breasts through her bra, feeling their weight before sliding back to unclasp her bra. In one smooth move, he undoes it and throws it aside. Clark leans back and looks longingly at Buffy, naked from the waist up. "You're stunning," Clark says as he leans down and kisses her. Buffy leans up meeting his lips with hers and her hands find their way to the buckle on his jeans. She can feel his whole body tense as she slowly undoes his belt.

As Buffy's fingers unbutton his pants, Clark works her button and zipper down too. He pulls back to look at her, his jeans now unbuttoned and unzipped. She lowers his pants down and he kicks them off along with his boots. Now at the end of the bed Clark pulls off Buffy's boots and tugs on the end of her pants. She shimmies out of them and he tosses them to the ground next to his. They drink each other in, Clark's skin glowing in the setting sunlight, his dark hair tousled and his eyes dark with desire. Buffy half lays, half sits on the bed, her nipples hard and her stomach smooth as it slopes down to meet the line of her tiny black underwear. "Undo your hair Buffy," Buffy acquiesces and fans her hair around her shoulders. She scoots to the end of the bed to where Clark is standing and runs her palms up his hardened stomach. She kisses him on his stomach, following the line of his triangular hips with her tongue. Her hands reach around and take hold of his ass cheeks, enjoying the feel of them in her hands.

Buffy can feel Clark's fingers in her hair, then at her arms urging her to stand up. His mouth is on hers instantly and his hands move down to palm her ass, he can feel every inch of her bare ass because of the thong. He loves how soft and firm her ass is. Clark's thumbs hook the edge of her panties and start to tug them down slowly. He can see her excitement and nervousness all at once, "It's been a while since I've done this Clark." He understands completely, "Me too. I feel like we can do this without me breaking you." Buffy smiles, "I didn't think about that, you probably never let loose fearing you would hurt someone, huh?" Clark nodded. "Clark, you don't have to worry about hurting me. Unless it's in the oh so good ways." Clark smiled wide, glad he couldn't hurt her and happy they were in this together. He finished pulling her panties down and Buffy moved to pull his boxers down. Kicking them both to the side, they stopped and looked at each other. Their eyes heated and intense. Buffy was astonished by Clark's gorgeous body, _they really don't make them like that around here!_ Her eyes drift down to his cock, her eyes widening at his impressive length and girth. She couldn't help but compare in the darkest recesses of her mind and she knew that there was no comparison to be made here—Clark was built in all the right ways. Clark's body was radiating heat as his eyes explore Buffy's amazing, tanned body. The small patch of blonde colored hair at the apex of her thighs entices him, making him harder. They both look at each other, ready to pounce.

Clark is on her first, his mouth crushing hers, his hands devouring every inch of her body. He pushes Buffy back down onto the bed, placing one knee between her legs, then two. Buffy's legs spread apart as they scoot up to the pillows. Clark settles in between her legs, feeling her legs gripping his sides. They continue kissing each other as Clark caresses her breast with his hand, gently bringing her nipple to a peak. Buffy curls her fingers into Clark's hair, her other hand running her nails gently down his back. Clark moves his mouth to Buffy's neck, licking her and biting her over her scar. "Unghh," Buffy moans and moves her hips against Clark's long, hard dick that's trapped between them. Clark kisses along her collarbone and down to her chest. His mouth engulfs one hardened nipple while his hand kneads her other breast. She can feel his tongue swirling around her nipple, making it harder. He pinches it softly between his teeth causing Buffy to squirm underneath him even more. "You're driving me crazy," Buffy admonishes Clark. He notices how she reacts to him biting her, to him being a little rough. He likes making her crazy.

He makes his way back up to her mouth, kissing her along the way. He feels Buffy's hand rubbing down his stomach to his hips. Distracted by her kisses, he's startled when he feels her small hand wrap tightly around his dick. "Oh, Buffy," he moans softly into her mouth. She starts stroking him slowly, reaching the tip of his velvet steel shaft and going back down. Clark lifts his head up, his eyes closed and mouth open slightly, savoring the feeling of her stroking his cock. Buffy takes the opportunity to kiss down his neck. She mimics him and bites him on the slope between his neck and his shoulder, he reacts wildly, digging his fingertips into her thigh and holding her head to his neck. "Harder," he says. She bites him harder and strokes him faster. As he's holding her mouth to his neck, he moves his other hand to her stomach between them.

He can feel her working him as he moves his hand lower to her inner thighs. He lets go of her head and Buffy relaxes back down to the bed as she feels his fingertips running along the inside of her thigh. His eyes meet hers, his dark hair hanging low near his eyelashes. His index and middle finger rub against her opening tenderly, he can feel her heat, he can feel how wet she is for him. Buffy gasps as his fingers find her clit and rub it, making her wetter. Clark leans down and kisses her and as his tongue enters her mouth he slowly slides his two fingers into her wet pussy. "Agh, yes," escapes from Buffy as he slides his fingers in and out of her. She continues to pump her hand up and down his hard length and they synchronize their rhythm unconsciously. Buffy can feel her orgasm building deep inside her, it threatens to overtake her with every plunge. He moves between them and stills her hand stroking him, not wanting to lose it just yet, he wants to do this for her right now. He can see her unraveling beneath him, "Go ahead Buffy, come for me." She looks at him, surprised. His mouth goes to her breasts again, kissing and sucking on them as he fingers her, speeding up as he feels her body get tense. He pinches one nipple between his fingers and rolls it slightly as he sinks his fingers into her. She loses control as her orgasm hits her in a wave of ecstasy. "Oh Clark, yeah, Ohhh," he can feel her vagina constrict around his fingers, _Jesus, she's so tight_. The thought of her gripping his dick like that while he was inside of her was nearly his undoing. Buffy pulls Clark's face down to hers, kissing him and sucking lightly on his lower lip before invading his mouth with her tongue. Their bodies are back against each other, his dick rubbing along her wet slit, so close to being engulfed in her heat. "Clark, that was incredible. I need you inside of me." "I know Buffy, I need you too." He rolls his forehead against hers, their noses touching briefly before propping himself up on his elbows to reach for the nightstand. "Clark, I'm on the pill. No worries." Clark was relieved and leaned back to her, kissing her quickly. She reaches down between them and positions his head at her entrance, guiding him to her.

As they lay there, the sun barely a memory in the sky, they stare into each other's eyes and Clark thrusts his dick deep into her cunt. The feeling of fullness overwhelmed Buffy as he pulled out and pushed in again, this time all the way to the hilt. Clark gasped at how tight she was, "Buffy, you're like a vice, you feel so good." He moved slowly at first, letting them both adjust to the other. Buffy was slick, allowing him to plunge in and out without friction, despite how much he was stretching her. They were both moaning, making small noises as they kissed each other. Buffy enjoyed watching Clark's ass go up and down as he pushed his dick into her, he was such a beautiful sight. Clark looked down at Buffy, her blonde hair fanned around her head and her breasts jiggling gently with each thrust. "Clark, ungh, your cock is amazing. You feel wonderful, don't stop." They moved together, Buffy's hips coming up to meet his at every plunge. She wanted more, "Faster."

Clark started moving faster, harder, "Tell me how hard you want it Buffy." Buffy loved feeling his body slap against hers, his dick slamming into her pussy. "Harder Clark, you're not going to hurt me." Clark reaches his hands up, grabbing Buffy's arms, and pinning them above her head, holding them there with his. He moved his lips to her neck, biting softly as he slammed into her. Buffy was losing it, this orgasm building faster than the first. Everything Clark was doing to her was deliciously perfect and Buffy didn't want to hold on any longer, she wanted to let go, she needed to let go. Clark could feel her muscles contracting around his dick, and her body bucking against his, "You're close, aren't you baby?" "Yes, oh yes." "Do it Buffy, come for me." Clark kissed her, swallowing her moans and letting go of her hands. They were on him instantly, digging into his back holding him tightly against her. "Come with me Clark, I want to feel you."

Clark had been slowly exploding since he first saw her, since last night, he needed her to release him. They moved faster together, Buffy feeling herself swell with every push of his huge cock and Clark getting closer to going over the edge with every touch. Clark was moaning into Buffy's mouth, one hand on her ass holding her still as he thrust deeply into her. They were both so close. Buffy's mouth opened, a fervent gasp escaping as the first waves of her orgasm crashed over her, "Agh, Clark. Yes, yes!" Clark could feel her orgasm shaking her body, it sent him over the edge, and he buried his face into her neck, fisting her hair tightly as he came deep inside her. They were both immobilized by the intensity of their orgasms, the intensity of their being together. He nuzzled her neck and her legs remained wrapped around him, holding him to her, his still hard dick buried inside her. They lay like that for a few minutes, simply enjoying their post-coital bliss.

Clark is the first one to move, shifting so he can look Buffy in the eye. His hand reaches up and caresses her cheek and he kisses her lightly. "Buffy, that was the best sex I've ever had in my life. I feel so close to you right now, so connected. I don't want this feeling to ever end." Buffy knew exactly how he felt. "I know Clark, it won't. We're in this together now remember? And yes, that was mind-blowingly amazing sex. In fact, I do believe it will only get better from here," Buffy smiled mischievously. Clark's face showed mock surprise, "Do you now?" "Oh, yes. You are quite feisty, and I have a feeling that you've been restrained for far too long. I have been too, most of my slayer life has been spent horny and dissatisfied. It seems like we both need to make up for missed opportunities." Clark was grinning widely, truly liking the idea of breaking through their restraint together.

"For now, I think we should take a shower and come back to bed. It's been a long time since I've cuddled with anyone and I bet you're a top notch cuddler." Clark laughed, "I like your plan." Clark eased out of Buffy, immediately feeling the loss, and shifted to the side of the bed, pulling her with him. He stood up with her in his arms, carrying her toward the shower. "I have legs you know," Buffy remonstrated. "Oh I know, you have the sexiest legs I've ever seen. I want to feel you against me, your warmth and your smell is intoxicating." He kissed her forehead as she leaned against him. They were in the bathroom and Clark put Buffy down on the rug, not wanting her toes to touch the cold tiles.

In the light, she was even more beautiful than before. She couldn't keep her eyes off him either, he was gorgeous. "Do you know how incredibly gorgeous you are Mr. Kent?" Clark looked back at Buffy from turning on the hot water, pleasantly flushed by her compliment, "Why don't you tell me Ms. Summers." Buffy walked the short distance over to him and kissed him, "The list is long, but I can start by showing you. Bit by glorious bit." Clark liked where this was going and as they stepped into the shower, Clark knew that they were going to have a long and magnificent night together.


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note:** I apologize to everyone for the delayed updates. You know those big life things that happen every once in a while? Yeah, one of those. Luckily I'm back to writing now and have some new chapters for you. I promise to update more regularly moving forward. I'm glad everyone is still enjoying the story. Please review and thanks for the support! SpikedRose09

**Explicit warning:** This chapter contains (more) explicit sexual interactions between Clark and Buffy. Please do not read if easily offended by graphic, erotic prose.

Chapter 25

As soon as Buffy snapped the shower curtain shut, Clark pulled her naked body against his. He leaned his soft lips down to hers and kissed her passionately, his hands moving down to grip her ass. Buffy had one hand on his neck, holding his mouth to hers as her other hand roamed the ripples of muscle on his stomach. She was itching to run her fingers along the ridge at his hip before reaching his dick. Their mouths moved against each other hungrily, their tongues battling for more. Clark dug his nails into Buffy's ass as he felt her hand slip between them and her slender fingers wrap around his engorged cock. She was pleasantly surprised to find him hard again, she liked the feeling of his weighty, impressive cock in her hand. Buffy released her mouth from his as she started stroking her hand up and down his length. He looked at her, his hair wet and tousled, hanging low in his crystal blue eyes. She moved her other hand down to grip his balls and rolled them slightly in her hand. Clark let go of her ass, his arms going back to his sides.

Buffy looked up innocently at Clark through her soaked bangs, the water sparkling on her face. "So this whole shower thing, I think it's about getting clean, right?" Clark nodded silently, smirking somewhat. "Well, I think I'm going to start down there," Buffy's eyes darted down to her hands and back up to Clark. She pressed her lips against his chest and kissed down his stomach. She bent her knees and kneeled down in front of him, her hands still stroking and rubbing his dick and balls. She let her tongue follow his hip line down to his dick and felt herself lingering there before rubbing her cheek along his length. Clark's body tensed as he felt her soft, wet cheek move on the outside of his dick. His hand when unconsciously to Buffy's shoulder and hair, he needed to touch her.

Buffy allowed herself to examine Clark's naughty bits for a few seconds. She was in awe at how beautiful his cock was, _not that I'm surprised though, just look at him!_ She peeked up at him before moving her mouth to the tip of his dick. Her lips parted and she licked a slow circle around his head, her tongue ran along the rim of his head before taking it into her mouth. Clark inhaled sharply at the feeling of her hot mouth on him. Her hand continued to stroke his shaft slowly in rhythm with her sucking. Clark leaned his head back, relishing in the feeling of Buffy's mouth on his dick. Buffy could see the effect she was having on him and wanted to make him lose himself, she wanted to release him. She took more of his cock into her mouth and moved her head back and forth, taking more in each time. One hand was splayed on his hip, while the other started stroking faster, her hand meeting her lips as she began deep throating a good deal of his dick.

Clark's hand gripped her hair as he looked down at her sucking his cock, "Ungh, Buffy. Oh, yeah don't stop." He had to stop himself from moving his hips, he didn't want her to choke on him, _well, not exactly._ She knew he was getting close and she couldn't wait for him to explode inside her mouth, she wanted to lap up all of his alien seed. She wondered if it would taste differently than human cum, _you're so weird_! She sucked his dick greedily and moved her hand faster. The feeling of his head slipping down her throat, her mouth sucking him mercilessly, thrilled Clark. He had never felt anything like this before.

He was getting close and couldn't help but move his hips forward. Buffy could feel him tensing and knew he was almost there, she could feel his hips bucking against her mouth. Buffy took more of his dick into her mouth, her lips still inches away from his hilt, and stroked him as she sucked him hard. "Fuck, Buffy. Yes, ungh, yes!" Unexpectedly, Clark held Buffy's head still as he fucked her mouth, his cum filling up her mouth and slipping down her throat. Buffy's hand slipped back to his ass, her nails digging into his skin as he erupted into her mouth. As he loosened his grip on her hair, she moved her mouth slowly against his dick and she could feel his body twitching. Buffy removed her mouth from his dick, swallowing happily, _tastes kind of sweet_. She cupped some of the water from the still running shower and drank some of it, swishing for a second.

Buffy stood up on wobbly legs, but Clark held her firmly to him and kissed her, hard. His expression was nearly unreadable from the mash-up of emotions he was feeling. "Buffy, that was, I don't even have words for how incredible that was. You're so amazing," he kissed her again. When he pulled back he reached for the soap, "So, how about we finish up this shower and go back to bed." His eyes were mischievous and she liked that look on him, a lot. Buffy nodded. They shampooed and lathered each other's hair while they looked at each other, both surprised at how easy it was to be together. They laughed and smiled as they rubbed soap over their bodies, Clark lingering on her breasts, pinching her nipples. Buffy loved soaping up his perfect ass cheeks and his back.

When they were all done, Clark turned off the water and they stood for a second as the steam began to fade. He reached outside of the curtain for some towels and pulled them back in to hand one to Buffy.

"Well, that was the most exciting shower I've ever had," Clark laughed and smiled broadly, his white teeth gleaming and his laugh lines showing Buffy that he meant it.

Buffy had to agree, "I know what you mean." Buffy rubbed the towel against her hair, soaking up the water from her long blonde hair as Clark ran his hair through the towel, leaving it a beautiful mess. Clark opened the shower curtain and stepped out, offering his hand to Buffy.

She walked back into the bedroom, the sun was completely down now and she was taken aback at how much had happened today. She wrapped the towel around herself and walked to the window, looking out across the moonlit fields. _It always surprises me how one day can change everything. Absolutely everything._ Buffy smiled to herself, knowing how hard fought happiness had always been for her. She was elated now, overwhelmed with happiness. The sadness that lurked beneath the surface was distant in this moment and she knew that she no longer alone in her sadness or happiness. She had Clark, they had each other.

Clark saw her looking out the window, the towel wrapped around her small figure. He wondered what she was thinking. He had never felt so connected to another person and he knew that relationships and contentment had never been easy for him, but now he had Buffy. She completed in ways that he never thought possible and was ecstatic that they had found each other. He flipped the switch off in the bathroom and dropped his towel in the hamper. With the room awash in moonlight, he padded softly over to Buffy and stood behind her. He folded on arm over her chest as the other wrapped gently around her stomach.

He kissed her delicately on her neck before resting his chin on her shoulder, "What are you thinking about?"

Buffy leaned her head to his and touched his hand over her stomach, "How lucky I am, how incredible today has been."

Clark smiled, "We're going to have many more days like this one. We just found each other, and now I'm not letting you go. Ever." His arms pulled her more closely to him, making her smile.

She turned around in his arms and looked up at him, "Never ever."

He smiled as he leaned down to kiss her and his fingers pulled at the towel, making it drop to the floor, "Whoops."

Buffy looked at him incredulously, "Right, total accident."

Clark feigned innocence before grabbing her hand and walking back to the bed. He pulled the covers back and lay down, pulling her down next to him. Their legs and hands intertwined as they lay facing each other. They looked at each other for a long time, the moonlight dancing off their smooth skin. Clark rubbed his fingers along Buffy's cheek before traveling down and resting on her hip. Buffy felt a tear escape the corner of her eye and slide down her cheek.

Clark moved closer to her and kissed her cheek, "What's wrong?"

Buffy looked down and then back at him, his eyes beaming with worry, "I'm just so happy. I'm afraid that if I close my eyes you'll disappear."

Clark understood that, "Buffy, I'm not going anywhere." He kissed her forehead and leaned his head against hers, rubbing his nose on hers, "I promise."

Buffy kissed him softly and turned over, nestling her back to his front. She could feel his arms enclose her and pull her close. He was so warm and comfortable, she felt safe here. They fit together perfectly and she could feel his breath on her ear as he leaned forward and whispered, "Good night Buffy. Thank you for finding your way to me. I didn't know it yet, but I was lost without you."

Buffy smiled to herself in the darkened room and buried herself deeper into Clark's embrace, "I know exactly what you mean Clark. Good night." Neither of them knew what tomorrow was going to bring, but they knew they were in it together and for the first time in their lives, they belonged.


	26. Chapter 26

**Explicit warning:** This chapter contains explicit sexual interactions between Clark and Buffy. Please do not read if easily offended by graphic, erotic prose.

Chapter 26

The sun was barely on the horizon when Clark woke up. He lay still as he watched Buffy sleep in his arms. In the night, he had shifted to lie on his back and Buffy was settled on his chest, her breath tickling his skin. Her tanned and toned leg was draped over his hip. He could see the blonde hair at the apex of her thighs and could feel her heat on his leg. Her arm rested gently on his stomach a few inches above his dick. The longer he looked at her beauty, the more his mind wandered to naughty places. For not having any intimate relationships in a long time, Clark was overwhelmed with desire by just looking at Buffy. He thought about last night and how they had moved together in unison, his dick buried deep inside her, her pussy accommodating his length. Her skin glowed and it was soft, her pussy felt amazing, tight and wet. He could feel her small breasts pressed against his side. Clark could feel his cock growing as it rested on his stomach, almost touching Buffy's arm. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to touch her.

Clark carefully slipped out from under her and stood next to the bed. Still asleep, Buffy moved to her back, her legs slightly spread apart. Clark smiled to himself as he moved to the end of the bed and kneeled between Buffy's legs, spreading them further apart. He moved his fingers lazily against her thighs and looked up at her to make sure she was still sleeping. He placed kisses gently along her inner thigh and when he got to her pussy, he placed an open-mouth kiss at the juncture of her legs and her mound. While she had hair on her mound, she was cleanly shaven at her opening. Clark wanted to taste her, feel her on his mouth. He also thought she would enjoy being woken up by him eating her out, _right? I mean what if she hates it? _Clark honestly didn't know, but he was willing to try.

He ran his index finger along her pussy's pink folds and loved the little moan that escaped Buffy's sleeping mouth. Clark slowly inserted his finger into her, feeling how wet and hot she was. As his finger moved leisurely in and out of her, he placed his mouth over her clit and kissed it before licking his tongue over the small bud. Her hips moved a little, but she was still sleeping. Clark removed his finger and licked his way down to her entrance. He plunged his tongue inside her wet heat and flicked her clit with his finger. She tasted amazing, he closed his eyes as he concentrated on the feeling of her silken folds on his tongue and her fresh, floral taste.

Buffy was dreaming about Clark. They were floating high above Smallville and they were making love. He held her tightly to him as she kept them in the air, their naked bodies moving weightlessly through the air. Her pleasure was rolling in waves all around her, the things he was doing to her body, she didn't know it could feel like this. It was becoming more real as she felt her orgasm building.

Something was pulling her out of the dream, _no, I want to stay._ The feeling of Clark's real hands gripping her real thighs around his face jolted Buffy awake. Buffy opened her eyes and looked down to see Clark eating out her cunt and the dream feelings of orgasm were suddenly very real, "Oh my god. Ahhh, yea." Almost immediately after waking, Buffy went over the edge, her orgasm hitting her intensely and relentlessly. She bucked her hips against Clark's face as he kept licking her pussy and kissing her clit. As he felt Buffy start to come down from her orgasm, he kissed her thighs again and kissed his way back up her body, stopping quickly to suck on one of her nipples, before leaning in front of her face.

"Good morning baby," Clark was impressed with himself, he had never made a girl come like that before and it was not going to be the last.

Buffy looked at him in disbelief, her eyes wide and her face flushed, "Good morning baby?" she said sarcastically, "Yeah right, that was the best wake-up I've ever had. I was dreaming about us having sky sex and then I wake up to a mind-blowing orgasm? Yeah, way better than good—great, magnificent, glorious, are all better words." She brought his mouth to hers and kissed him hard, a good morning and a thank you and a holy crap you're amazing kiss. He was lying on top of her as she kissed him and she could feel his hardened cock against her hip.

Buffy pulled back to look at him, his excitement bare on his face, "Sky sex? You were dreaming about sex with me?"

Buffy grinned, "Sure was my beautiful man friend. Someday we'll have to try that."

A small look of fear crossed his face, "Yeah, someday far from now."

"Oh, stop it. You can't be afraid of heights, especially not if there's sex involved."

Clark sighed heavily, "I guess so. We'll see. Let's just make sure we've got this ground sex thing perfected first." Then he flipped them over so she was sitting on top of him, his dick trapped beneath her.

"Clark Kent, you are a horny teenager, you know that?" Buffy laughed as she said it.

He laughed aloud at her protest, "And what of it? My teenage years were rife with unfulfilled angst and fear of my powers fritzing during sex. So, now that I have you, another super human, I'm happy to try out all of the tricks." As he said this he held her hips and waggled his hips underneath hers, making her laugh.

"Well, I'm very pleased with your powers and especially that one that produces unearthly orgasms." She leaned down and kissed him, her nipples brushing his chest. He broke the kiss and pulled one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking until it hardened.

Buffy moved her pussy against his dick, making it harder. He went from one breast to the other and Buffy's hands invaded his dark hair as she grinded down onto his lap. When he released her breasts and lay back to the bed, his head resting on his folded arms, she reached between them. She pulled his dick to her entrance and stared into his eyes as she lowered herself onto him. Clark's mouth opened as his breathing sped up, Buffy was sliding his dick slowly into her pussy. When she had him buried to the hilt, she sat very still, watching Clark closely.

Then she started to move up and down, impaling herself on his cock, she was so wet that he slipped in and out with ease. Clark moved his arms out from behind his head and gripped Buffy's hips, his fingertips digging into her skin. Her small breasts bounced as she grinded up and down onto him. Seeing her straddling him and feeling her hot, tight pussy surrounding him was driving Clark crazy. "Fuck, Buffy. Yes, ungh," Clark moaned as he felt his orgasm building. Buffy leaned forward and put her hands on his chest, changing the angle slightly. She enjoyed feeling him deep inside of her, his strong body succumbing to her movements.

"I'm close. Come with me Buffy," Clark wanted them to feel that connection again and longed to feel her collapse onto him in ecstasy.

Buffy nodded and bounced up and down faster, she could feel the tightening in her belly, that warm tidal wave about to take her away. All of the sudden Clark stilled her hips and started pumping in and out of her quickly from underneath. "Ahh, yes! Clark, ungh!" It pushed her over the edge and she screamed as the orgasm hit her full force. Clark moaned loudly as he released himself into her, the strength of his orgasm making him blackout for a second. With him still buried inside of her, she collapsed onto his chest, her breathing erratic as she came down from that monster of an orgasm. He wrapped his arms around her body, clutching her to him. He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her forehead.

"I don't know what you had planned for today, but I hope it doesn't involved walking," Buffy said as she shifted her face to look at him, leaning on her hand.

Clark laughed, knowing what she meant, his body was buzzing. Her hair was hanging around her face, her green eyes shining in content.

Her lips turned up at the corners as she kissed him. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Besides you?" Clark asked teasingly.

Buffy laughed heartily, "Yes, besides me. I know we both have friends who are probably worried and I have to eat something, like now. I may be tiny, but all this power and sex makes a girl hungry."

Clark agreed, he was pretty hungry too. "Well, how about we get up and get dressed and figure out a plan for the day. Maybe we could go to Metropolis later so you can meet Chloe?"

Buffy kissed him again and moved to get off the bed, "That sounds like a good idea. I'd like to meet her. But, we need breakfast first." Clark enjoyed the view as Buffy walked to the bathroom, her butt cheeks shifting and her hair swaying as she walked.

They got dressed, brushed their teeth, and were downstairs in no time. "Breakfast in or out, Buffy?"

Buffy thought about it for a second, "That depends on whether you want to be seen with me Mr. Kent."

Clark went to her in a blur, "Of course I want to be seen with you," he touched her cheek, "You're a babe."

Buffy giggled, "Seriously, I know we know what we are, but how do we explain our sudden togetherness with your fellow friends and farmers."

"Oh, well we could go for the light, girlfriend boyfriend, or the heavy, soul mates, which do you prefer?" Clark smiled at her sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess let's go with dating for now, we've only known each other for a few days. I can't have the whole town thinking I'm some big ho, running around with the hottest guy in Smallville. People talk you know."

Clark was laughing at her, "You're ridiculous! Let's go, we can stop by your house and then we'll go to the Talon for some breakfast. Then maybe Metropolis, we'll see what Chloe's up to. Sound good?" Buffy nodded and walked to the door.

Clark went to her and held her hand as they left the house, "Here we go, Smallville's savior and the out-of-towner-ho." Buffy slapped his chest and laughed at him, he was smiling at her.

"If you're a ho, then I'm a ho too," Clark grinned, enjoying messing with her. _Oh, yes you are,_ thought Buffy as she remembered Clark's little shower routine after she walked out on him the other night.

"That's true enough Clark. I'll race you to my house." Buffy took off before he could agree and he smiled, "No fair!" Then he took off across the field in a blur.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Buffy and Clark finally made it to the Talon in Clark's truck and they were devouring their delicious breakfast. Clark and Buffy were genuinely enjoying each other's company as they told each other more stories from their past. They couldn't believe they were both such losers in high school knowing how awesome they were now. Clark talked about Chloe and Pete and Buffy talked about Xander and Willow. Buffy told the Dawn story and how she didn't have a sister until she was 20 years old. Clark told her about the fortress of solitude. As they got more eggs and pancakes, they could feel some of the other patron's eyes on them. Buffy wondered if he knew them or if they were just nosy.

"Are we making a spectacle of ourselves or something?" Buffy asked.

Clark looked around and figured out what she meant, "No, not at all. Everyone is just used to seeing me be emo, since my dad died. So to see me laughing and smiling is just new is all. That and they're probably wondering how the Kent boy scored breakfast with such a super hottie."

Buffy chuckled to herself and reached out her hand to his, caressing it with her thumb. They continued to enjoy their breakfast when the front door opened, the little bell ringing. A sudden quiet spread around the room. Buffy looked at the couple who just walked in. The man was bald and had a black, knee length blazer on with a grey sweater underneath, the woman had long brown hair and wore white pants and a blue button down shirt under a white pea coat.

"Who are they?" Buffy was curious, especially since everyone was staring at the two that just walked in.

Clark turned around, only to return his eyes quickly back to Buffy. He exhaled slowly and removed his hand from hers, "That is Lex Luthor and Lana Lang, Smallville's newest power couple." His voice was low and annoyed.

Buffy could tell immediately that there was something wrong here. When the brown haired woman turned toward their table, Buffy caught her eyes for a second before looking back to Clark. He was mad. She recognized Lana's name, she was his first love, the girl he had sacrificed his father's life for, but what about the guy? She recognized the name Luthor, some big corporate crony name, but Clark hadn't mentioned him. _Oh, shit, they're walking over here_. Buffy's eyes warned Clark before they were at the table.

Lana stood next to the table, her eyes avoiding Buffy completely, "Hi Clark. I haven't seen you around lately, how are you?" Her voice was innocent and sweet, like cotton candy laced with cyanide.

"Hi Lana. I'm fine. I've been busy with the farm." Clark's lips were tense, his smile from minutes earlier faded. He didn't look at her, just kept his eyes trained on Buffy. When Lana noticed that he wasn't going to look at her, her eyes shifted to Buffy.

"And, who is this?" Lana's catlike eyes narrowed on Buffy's face.

"Hi, I'm Buffy Summers. Nice to meet you," she reached her hand out to Lana and squeezed hard when Lana offered her hand in return.

"I'm Lana Lang. This is Lex Luthor, I'm sure you've heard of him." Lex approached stoically.

"Hi Clark. It's been a while." Lex glanced between Clark and Buffy.

"Yes, Lex. Although it hasn't been long enough." Clark's eyes were ice as he looked sharply at Lex. Lex nodded slowly and look at the ground before returning his eyes to Buffy.

"Buffy, right? You're new to town aren't you?" Lex was curious about the young blonde-haired woman Clark was entertaining this morning. _Who was she to him? I haven't taken everything away from him only to find him happy again. This won't do. _

"Yes, and I am." Buffy wasn't too sure what to say, clearly it wasn't nice to meet him, so she wouldn't say that. The silence was palpable between the four of them and, luckily, Lex and Lana leaving interrupted the awkwardness.

"It's nice to meet you Buffy. Clark, good to see you. Lana, we should go," Lex grabbed Lana by her upper arm and applied some pressure. She looked at him in warning and shook off his grip.

"Bye Clark." Lana didn't pay any goodbye to Buffy before storming toward the front door, followed closely by Lex.

Clark was looking down at his clenched hands on the table when Buffy turned her eyes to him. "Clark, what was that about? Him or her?"

He looked up at her, "Both of them, mostly him. For years we were best friends. I trusted him and saved his life more times than I can count, but he would never let my secrets go. Lex was always devising plans for finding out the truth about me and pursued all kinds of shady avenues to get at my abilities and me. He tried to kill me and my parents just to see what would happen and then would play it off like nothing was his fault. Then the whole Lana thing. The reason she got into that accident in the first place was because he was chasing her, trying to get her to tell him my secret. He's the reason she died in the first place, he started the chain reaction that killed my father. Then I find out that for years he was manipulating everything to get Lana all to himself anyway. Now she's living with him. I don't love her and I can't even look at her anymore, but I know that she deserves more than someone like Lex Luthor. He's systematically tried to rip everything away from me, just so he could know what I was hiding from him. Now that he knows your name, we need to be careful because I wouldn't put it past him to try something."

He was nearly shaking in anger at the thought of Lex doing anything to hurt Buffy. They would definitely have to be careful. Buffy reached over and grabbed his hand in hers, smoothing out his white knuckles.

"Clark, everything is going to be fine. He can't hurt me. Now, Lana, she's a different story. If she had lasers that came out of her eyes I would be toast right now."

Clark smiled and looked at Buffy, "She's not going to do anything. She's just pissed that I'm not pining over her anymore and that I broke up with her. Now she's with Lex and she's finding that he's not a good person, so seeing me happy is just chapping her ass I'm sure."

Buffy laughed at his honest interpretation of Lana's behavior, "Well, if I lost you to some super-powered hottie, my ass would be chapped too."

They shared some laughs together and finished their breakfast. They decided to head to Metropolis this afternoon to meet Chloe and maybe do some impromptu life saving. In the back of Clark's mind, he was truly worried about Lex. As they were walking out to the truck to head back to Buffy's, Clark spoke up.

"Buffy, I know that you've faced a lot worse than Lex, but I'm worried about him finding you out. He could destroy the entire operation with a phone call to the military with your whereabouts. Do you think your people could strengthen the firewalls or make some cookie-cutter background story for you just in case?"

She could see that he was legitimately concerned for her safety when it came to this corporate scumbag, "Sure Clark, I'll call Xander when we get to the house and let him know about the possible breach. You're right, it wouldn't be good if your ultimate nemesis found out that your new squeeze is the commander of a slayer army with super powers. Who would that make you by association?"

"Exactly. But I'm less worried about him finding out my secret at this point, he's already gone too far. But if he touches you, I'm going to kill him this time." Clark thought about the possibility of killing Lex, it had crossed his mind before. But his innate sense of justice always stopped him from going there. This time though, after everything Lex has done, Clark wasn't too sure he would be able to stop himself.

Buffy shook her head, "Clark, it won't come to that, I promise. We can run interference before it comes to that." She scooted across the truck seat to him and kissed him, their soft lips giving into each other, eagerly seeking to reconnect after the interruption at breakfast. He leaned his forehead against hers, "I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you Buffy."

"I know Clark, I feel the same way. Luckily, we're both super-powered honeys capable of taking care of each other no matter what happens." Buffy was trying to reassure him, still unsure of the extent of Lex's capacity to hurt her or Clark. Buffy had never fancied hurting humans, supernatural beings were her thing, but if this guy had the power to make Clark this worried, she knew she should be prepared for anything.

When they got back to Buffy's house, they each called their respective friends to update them on their status. "No Xander, Clark's not dangerous, he's just an alien. No, he doesn't shape shift into a human from being a tiny green person. Shut up Xander!" "No Chloe, Buffy's not dangerous, she's just a vampire slayer, a very hot vampire slayer that can fly. Yes, fly. I know."

While they each patiently shared the details with their friends, they also made sure to express concern about Lex, since he's the only threat in Smallville, albeit a formidable one. Xander agreed to manufacture a generic back-story available for when Lex started his searches and promised to keep a close eye and magical leash on the situation. They didn't need someone with unlimited connections and funds finding out about their commander and the whole operation. Buffy and Clark promised to keep them updated on the Lex front and Clark made plans with Chloe for this afternoon, while Buffy said goodbye to Xander. She implored him to take care of his sister and to tell Willow she said hello. They hung up simultaneously and collapsed onto the couch.

"We've got really good, exhausting, friends who care about us, you know?"

Clark nodded, "Yes, I agree. That went well though. It seemed like Chloe already knew most of what I was talking about, but your friend Xander seemed completely clueless. Little green person?"

"He grows on you," Buffy smiled thinking about her best friend fondly. She leaned her back into Clark's side as they sat on her new couch. His arm wrapped around her chest as he played with her hair.

"I like your place. It's very open and airy. Very California, you know if I could imagine." Clark was looking around admiring what Buffy had done with the place.

"You've never been to California?" Buffy was shocked.

"I mean I've sped through there before, but I've never visited or stayed for any length of time."

"Oh, we're definitely going to California someday. You'll love it." Buffy found the thought of traveling with Clark new and exciting. She had never taken trips anywhere with her previous partners, the whole sun thing was a drag. That and the saving the world business kept her homebound. All the traveling she had done in the past year was by necessity and with her friends and sister. It was nice getting away from Sunnydale with her closest friends, but it was still different than what she imagined going somewhere with Clark would be like.

Clark was happy that she was already planning trips with him. They could go anywhere in the world in mere seconds and he loved the idea of traveling the world with her by his side—or flying through the air. "Chloe said she's working for another couple of hours and is free after that. She's really excited to meet you. She wants to take us to some new restaurant that just opened, what do you think?"

Buffy nodded, "Sounds good. I'm excited to meet her too. When do you want to leave and how do you want to get there?"

"We can leave now and go sightseeing, we could run there. Maybe you could fly us back?" Clark closed his eyes trying to hold back the anxiety of being that high, but knowing she would take care of him.

"Fly back? You'd really be okay with that?" Buffy looked at him curiously.

"Yes, I'd be fine with that. I need to get up there at some point right, who better to do it with than you." Clark trusted her wholeheartedly.

They agreed and Buffy changed her clothes for the day and packed a small bag to bring with her in case anything happened to her current outfit. She also packed a stake in case they ran into any vampires. She still didn't know about the vampire population in Metropolis, she would have to find out soon though. When she was ready, they locked up and stood outside under the partly cloudy sky.

"Ready?" Clark asked. "Sure am," Buffy replied. They took off in a blur, staying closely to one another as they went through the woods along the highway. They would be in Metropolis in seconds, ready to have a fun night in the big city with Chloe.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"Who is that bitch anyway?!" Lana threw her jacket down on her bed as she stormed into her room, furious at the altercation they just had with Clark and his new whore.

"Buffy, what kind of bullshit name is that! He loved me forever you know, and then he just breaks up with me and moves on. No. That's not how this works." Lana sat down in a chair against the wall as Lex entered the room pacing in front of her.

"You moved on Lana. Why can't he?" He knew she was going to be pissed, but didn't anticipate how jealous it would make him. She had been living in his house for months now and they had finally kissed and made love. Now she was with him, and she was never getting out of it. He would allow these minor outbursts as long as they didn't manifest into anything further.

"Oh sure, I'm with you now so I can't be pissed about Clark doing anything, especially not moving on to some bimbo. Whatever Lex, you know how I feel about you. I'm living here and we've only just started whatever this is, I'm just confused. This stuff takes time." Lana fumed and stared off toward the window for a few minutes, allowing herself some time to calm down. She had never been this angry of a person in the past and she knew it had something to do with being around Lex, but she was too afraid to admit it. The guilt of sneaking behind Clark's back with his former best friend was eating at her, even though they had long been broken up. After a couple of reflective minutes, Lana walked over to Lex, took his face in her palms, and looked into his eyes.

"I'm with you now Lex, we both know that. I was just surprised to see him and for him to be with someone else, it just hurts. We didn't end on the best of terms, that's all. My anger will subside, I just need some time." Lex understood and kissed her softly before leaving the room. He was good at giving her space, especially if it meant he could run some of his own reconnaissance on one Buffy Summers.

Lex walked into his office and sat at his desk, the sunlight shining through the stain glass above his work area. He touched his fingertips together in front of his face as he contemplated Clark's newfound happiness as well. He wouldn't ever tell Lana about his obsession to find out Clark's secret or how that had brought them together, but he knew that if Clark was cavorting with someone new, she probably knew his secret. _She could be like him_, he had to know. He picked up his office phone and dialed the speed dial.

"Yes, I need everything you can find on Buffy Summers. Immediately." Lex barked at the head of his security team over the phone. While they had failed continuously to find anything amiss with Clark Kent, he would be damned if they didn't find something on this blonde.

Within minutes, his computer pinged and Lex leaned forward only to find a story about a girl from California who had lost her home to a sinkhole—Sunnydale. Lex remembered when that had happened. Some of his corporate enemies were blamed for deteriorating the aquifers that led to the collapse, even though some of his own corporate subsidiaries had been involved. He recalled the swift cover-up and then the way he had swiftly forgotten about it. So she was from there. She had been attending college for a little while then stopped to take care of her sick mother, who later died, and then was working at the high school when the collapse occurred. Naturally, she was attracted to Smallville for its small scenic attributes and rolling farmland, _pure coincidence then?_ Lex followed her bank records and found that the money she had bought her house with was from an inheritance. Everything seemed normal. _What was she doing hanging around Clark Kent? She has to know something. This can't be everything. _

Maybe it was everything that was available or that had been put out there. _She could have powerful friends, what would that mean?_ Lex was confounded and wanted to believe that there was more to Buffy Summers than this stale lost girl tale of woe. _What if Clark really is just a normal farm boy? NO, it's not possible._ Lex was determined to find out more about them and if he had to torture her, he would.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

For the few hours before meeting up with Chloe, Buffy and Clark wandered Metropolis, stopping every so often to take pictures, sit in the park, eat hot dogs from a stand, hold hands, all the regular couple things that they both longed to do with each other. Buffy was excited to be touring the big city with Clark, her hand comfortably intertwined with his as they walked from site to site. Eventually they were sitting outside the Daily Planet, waiting for Chloe to be finished with her work. From this side of the building they could barely see anything and Buffy longed to get up high again and see the whole city.

"So what do you say about going to the top of this thing for a real view until Chloe's ready?" Buffy was hopeful and let it shine through her innocent green eyes.

Clark sighed, "That sounds nice. I'm guessing you want to fly us up there?"

"Well, yeah. If we ran up the stairs, we could hit like dozens of people and it would take longer. We could have been up there 10 seconds ago already." Buffy admonished Clark's hesitance.

Clark nodded and stood up, "Okay."

Buffy stood in front of Clark and looked around, then pulled him into the alley on the side of the building. She wrapped her arms solidly around his torso and he reciprocated. "You need to remember to breathe."

Buffy kneeled down and kicked off the ground, bringing Clark with her as she shot up into the air up the side of the Daily Planet building. The windows passed by in a blur, the whole building fading away. Clark looked straight up and could see the blue sky quickly approaching as they reached the top of the rotating globe at the top of the building. Buffy set them down on a non-mobile piece of the globe and was still holding onto Clark. His grip on her was stronger than it needed to be. He looked around and they could see for miles in every direction. The whole city was before them and it was beautiful.

Buffy watched him as he looked around, his smile growing with every passing second. When he looked down, seeing the hundreds of feet between them and the ground, he gripped her harder.

"Clark, it's okay. I'm not going to let you fall. Besides you could just pull yourself up or power jump if you needed to. Remember that your abilities won't permit you to hit the ground or if you did you wouldn't be hurt. The ground would be hurt, but you would be just fine." She could feel him relax his arms around her.

"You're right. I'm surprised how smooth the trip was, you got us right up here, no muss no fuss. How high can you go?" Clark wanted to know the logistics of this flying thing. It was completely new to him and he was ecstatic that Buffy knew exactly what she was doing. Maybe she could teach him.

"I've flown as high as airplanes, around 30,000 or 40,000 feet, the air is pretty thin, but my body can still absorb oxygen without passing out. I don't usually fly that high unless I need to though."

Clark was astounded, "That's pretty high. I wonder if I'll ever be able to fly someday. I told you that I've floated a few times, but it's never been something I thought about."

Buffy considered his doubt, "It makes sense that you would fly Clark, you have all these powers, why wouldn't flying be one of them? You also said you get your energy from the sun, it would be advantageous if you could be closer to the sun. You just haven't ever tried. We should practice sometime. You just need to stop being a scaredy cat. How about one of these days you jump off the windmill in Chandler's field and we'll practice?"

Clark nodded, "That's not too high up, so that could work." He felt Buffy release him from her arms and was startled by the loss of her warmth as she sat down on the top of the globe. He followed her and stayed very close to her. They held hands as they looked out at the city. A few minutes passed in silence, with the sounds of the city filling their super-powered ears. Clark jumped when his cell phone rang in his pocket.

"Holy shit!" Buffy was laughing at him as he picked up the phone.

"Hey Clark! Where are you two?"

"Hi Chloe. We're at the top of the Daily Planet globe right now, where do you want to meet?"

Chloe opened her mouth in surprise, "Like the very top? How'd you get up there?"

"Yes, Buffy flew us up here. I almost fell off when the phone rang." Clark's heart was still racing.

Buffy could hear Chloe's contagious laughter through the phone and grabbed the phone from him, "Hi Chloe, this is Buffy. I'm going to talk to you now so Mr. I'm-Afraid-of-Heights doesn't fall off and break the building."

Chloe laughed, "Hi Buffy. Well I'm ready to leave if you two want to meet me downstairs in front. Then we can go to that awesome new restaurant that just opened."

"Sounds good Chloe, be down in a second." She ended the call and returned the phone to Clark's jacket pocket. "Ready to go?" Clark nodded and stood, wrapping his arms around her again. She leaned up to kiss him, knowing that he wasn't going to like the going down part.

She held onto him as she jumped off the top of the building head first, they were going much faster than before. The building and the approaching ground a scary blur blob making Clark panic. She stopped them gracefully before they reached the ground in the alley and they landed feet first. Clark released her and suddenly leaned onto his knees, heaving, "Jesus Christ Buffy, you were trying to distract me with that kiss weren't you?"

Buffy felt bad, but he was right "Sure was, going down is always rougher than going up. That sudden free fall feeling, it'll get you."

Once Clark's breathing returned to normal he stood up, "At least I know now. I probably would have wanted to take the stairs if you'd have told me. You are amazing, you really have control of it, even carrying me with you. Just one more thing that I love about you baby. Unless you were trying to kill me?" He smiled and kissed her then, grateful for getting him to ground safely and because he missed her lips on his.

"Ahem." Chloe cleared her throat as she stood at the entrance to the alley. "I figured you two would be over here trying to be all nonchalant. Oh, no, we weren't just flying around or anything."

Clark and Buffy both smiled widely as they walked over to Chloe. Clark embraced his old friend, happy to see her again. "Hi Chloe, this is Buffy."

Buffy held out her hand and shook Chloe's in return, "It's wonderful to meet you Chloe. From what Clark's told me we're going to be chummy in no time."

Chloe smiled at finally getting the chance to meet Buffy, "She's much prettier in person Clark." She rubbed her elbow on Clark's and winked at him. "Yes, I know Chloe." Clark chuckled at his best friend. Buffy blushed at their friendly interchange.

"Well let's get out of this stinky alley and out into real life, shall we?" They followed Chloe out onto the sidewalk and fell into pace with one another.

After Chloe's interaction with Willow she couldn't help but ask Buffy about her. "So Buffy, I met your friend Willow the other night." Buffy was really surprised at that, "What? Willow's in Scotland." Then she figured it out, "Oh, did she do that creepy teleporting thing?"

"Yes, with a side of extra creepy for the girl she thought was trying to mess with you." Chloe remembered how frightened she had been when Willow just manifested. Poof!

"Ah, yes. She pulled the purple smoke, black eyes, non-sourceable wind thing didn't she?"

"Oh, yeah. So you've seen it I'm guessing?" Chloe looked over at Buffy as they walked side-by-side, curious.

"Well she tried to end the world once and we got into this epic battle, she pulled that crap back then too. Now it's all just for show because she went to witchy rehab and is all better now, with the world saving and everything." Buffy remembered that fight, Willow had really kicked her ass.

"End the world? Willow? I mean I can see that she's powerful, but she doesn't seem like the type." Chloe was curious about Willow, she seemed so chill once she realized that Chloe wasn't the enemy. Maybe they could be friends someday.

"I've learned that anyone can be pushed to do just about anything." Buffy looked at the ground. Clark looked at her, surprised by her suddenly pessimistic outlook.

"One of these villain nerds that made our lives hell for a few months couldn't handle that I had thwarted him again. He bought a gun, came to our house, and shot me in the chest and another round into the air. None of us knew it at the time, but Willow and her girlfriend Tara were upstairs and the stray bullet had killed Tara. Willow absorbed all the black magic she could, removed the bullet from my chest, and used it to kill him, then went after the world. Xander saved us all and pulled her back from the edge with his love for her." As Buffy told the story, the three of them had stopped walking and were standing at a street corner.

"Holy crap. That's terrible Buffy. You said that she's better now though?" Chloe's eyebrows were knitted together in concern for Willow.

"Yea, she went to rehab in England and they helped her clean out the dark magic. Don't get me wrong, she's still the most powerful witch in the world, but she knows how to control it now. Apparently she just uses her scary Willowness to scare hackers like you."

Chloe laughed, "I guess so. The girlfriend thing also makes sense." She said the last part softly, thinking to herself about Willow's behavior the other night.

Buffy looked at her, "She hit on you didn't she?"

"Kind of, I don't know. She sniffed my hair and invaded my personal space, so maybe." Chloe wasn't sure how she felt about it, she was pretty sure she was straight, _right? _

"Oh yea, definitely. Well, you are her type, and she is single." Buffy thought about all the fighting between Willow and Kennedy over the last year and was happy to see them apart. They were becoming toxic with each other. If Willow was moving on, then power to her.

Clark was just watching the two of them, a smile on his face, "Girls huh?"

Chloe slapped him on the arm, "Shut up Clark. I don't know." She really didn't, but she did feel an attraction to Willow, whether it was on the power end or the I'm suddenly a lesbian end, she couldn't tell.

They laughed together as they walked toward the restaurant. They had a lot to learn about each other and Chloe was certainly excited to see more of Buffy and Clark: Love Boat. He deserved to be happy and she was delighted that Buffy could be the one to give that to him.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The dinner was amazing, the new restaurant featured Creole-fusion and had a fancy, award winning chef. The three of them sat for a long time and enjoyed their dinner while sharing stories of the crazy, weird, and unknown. Chloe was happy to have someone else to talk to about Clark's secret, but also knew that she had another secret to keep now that she knew the details of Buffy's life. She would keep Buffy's secret no matter what, just as she had kept Clark's secret.

After dinner, they were walking toward Chloe's apartment, when Buffy's hearing perked up. She heard a scream coming from a nearby alleyway, then a growl.

"Keep Chloe behind you," Buffy said to Clark and then sped off down the alleyway.

She grabbed the stake from the small bag she was carrying with her and dropped the bag to the floor. It had been a long time since she had seen a vampire, but she knew that the chances of them being in Metropolis were high. The vampire had a young woman pinned to the wall about 20 feet away from Buffy. She stood with her arms crossed.

"Tsk, tsk. Don't you know better than to take a girl to an alley for dinner? Nice girls need at least a three course meal before they'll let you neck them," Buffy flung her customary sardonic lines at the vampire. He turned around, surprised to see her standing there. There weren't any slayers in these parts, him and his buddies had a nice deal going here, _damn, I'll just have to kill her._

"Slayer," the vampire seethed at her. Buffy could feel Clark and Chloe behind her, watching.

"Buffy, do you need help?" Clark didn't know anything about vampires, but knew he could probably rip heads off if he was needed.

"No babes, I got this." Buffy smiled as the vamp ran at her. She let them fight for a few minutes, relishing in the fight. He never landed any punches, but she let him land a couple of kicks so he felt accomplished before he died. She kicked his legs out from under him and plunged the stake into his chest, his form collapsing into dust on the alley floor.

Clark and Chloe's eyes widened, "What happened to him?" Chloe asked.

"When you stake a vampire they disintegrate into dust, it's a thing." Buffy started to walk back to them when she heard more growls from the end of the alley. She turned around to seven more vampires approaching her. "Stay back Clark."

Buffy lunged herself into the fight, they probably thought she didn't have a chance, but they didn't know who they were dealing with. Manipulating them into a circle, Buffy quickly staked each of them using her super speed, leaving only one left and she was freaking out. The vampire screamed as Buffy shoved her against the wall, "What's your master's name?"

"We don't have a master, bitch."

"Now that's for sure a lie," Buffy snapped the girl's arm behind her back, feeling the bones break.

"Ahhh! Okay okay. I don't know his name, but he's holed up by the water somewhere, in one of the ports. Please let me go."

"How many of you are there in Metropolis?"

"I don't know maybe a few thousand, we live in separate nests. We just report back to him for money and food."

"Lovely. Thanks for the information." Buffy saw the look of relief on the vamp's face, thinking she was going back to feeding tonight before going back to her hole in the ground. Buffy shoved the stake into her back without blinking and patted the dust off her clothes before looking up at Clark and Chloe.

The shock on their faces was visible, their mouths slightly agape. Clark thought Buffy was magnificent when she fought, she was truly a master at combat and she didn't hesitate. Chloe hadn't seen any of Buffy's powers, so to see Buffy fighting with grace and moving as fast as she did, Chloe wasn't prepared for that at all.

"So, that's what vampire slaying looks like. Any questions?" Buffy said as she walked back toward them at the entrance to the alley.

Chloe's short blonde hair was bobbing as she nodded feverishly, tempted to raise her hand. She was teeming with questions, "Do you always kill them? Are all vampires bad?"

The irony of her question was not lost on Buffy, "I slay most of them because yes, most of them are bad. Now when I say most, I mean like every single one except maybe five or something. Certain vampires have a moral compass from their human days and others have souls, which takes away their urge to kill. Most don't have those things and will continue to kill innocent victims if left alive, I can't have that."

Clark thought about his penchant for non-lethal fighting and wondered about her slaying policy in general, "Do you slay other beings too? How about bad people?"

Buffy thought about his question, "Demons are sometimes worse than vampires because they get involved in ritual sacrifices and have a compulsion to end the world. So, I'm good with killing bad demons. Again, not all demons are bad. Some just look scary and get a bad reputation. As far as bad people, I believe that justice system is meant for them. Non-supernatural beings do terrible things, yes, but it's not my place to pass judgment. That's not to say that they don't get caught in supernatural battles, because they do, but I have never killed any human beings. This one time I got close, but she totally deserved it. She was a rogue slayer that was off killing people, she had to be stopped. I put her into a coma for a while. After a lot of back and forth, she now she fights on our side. Mostly." She thought about Faith for a second, after all these years Buffy was still on the fence about her, but knew that when it came to the end she fought on the side of good just like the rest of them.

Clark was satisfied with her answer, he didn't know the ins and outs of her daily life prior to moving to Smallville, so he trusted her judgment on these things. Just as he would hope she would accept his answer in regards to extraterrestrial beings.

Chloe was just flabbergasted by Buffy's skill, "You are an incredible fighter Buffy. And from what I hear that's just barely the surface of your abilities. Clark, you better hold onto this one, the two of you are going to bring this world back from chaos on all fronts. I'm so lucky! I mean, I've got warning systems for the end of the world due to supernatural and/or extraterrestrial occurrences. Awesome! And you two have me, Ms. Hacker of the world, I'm totally part of the team, right?"

"Yes." Clark and Buffy said in unison. They held hands as Chloe continued babbling excitedly as they walked closer to her apartment. Buffy was glad the night had gone so well and that she had dusted some vamps finally. Now she knew that there was a vampire ring in Metropolis, now she could get back to work.

They stopped in front of Chloe's apartment building and said goodbye. She looked forward to seeing them again soon and agreed to keep tabs on Lex's search for information on them, especially Buffy. She promised to coordinate with Willow and Xander concerning Lex as well.

When Chloe hugged Buffy, she whispered, "You make him happy, I've never seen him so happy. Thank you." Buffy nodded and squeezed Chloe to her before releasing her.

"We'll be seeing you Chloe, thank you for dinner. Bye." They waived as they walked away, Chloe calling out to them, "Bye!"

Clark heard what Chloe said to Buffy and it had him smiling as he stared up at the stars. "You make me happy too, you know?" Buffy said quietly.

"I know, Buffy." He planted a kiss on her lips and pulled her close to him at the street corner. "So how about that flight back home, you still up for it?" Clark looked at her, his eyes bright and kind of excited.

"Are you? I'm ready if you are." Buffy saw the brief look of excitement and wondered if the flying was growing on him.

"I'm ready. Take us home." And with that they entered a dark alley and held each other tightly before Buffy kicked off the ground. They went higher than the skyline, the stars and moonlight lighting the path to Smallville. Buffy easily rotated them as they flew, so Clark could see both the stars and the ground. She flew slowly enough to enjoy the trip and within minutes they were back at her house. She glided them gently to the ground behind her house. Clark sat down on her back porch stairs and pulled her onto his lap as his breathing steadied.

"That was better than before." Clark didn't feel live heaving on the way down this time.

"I have more room to maneuver out here than the narrow alleyways of the city. I also had to move more quickly so no one would see us. I took my time tonight, letting you enjoy it. I'm glad you liked it." Buffy's hands roamed his back and his cheek as she sat comfortably in his lap.

"I did. I want to learn now. Will you teach me Buffy?" Clark was hopeful that maybe he could fly with a little bit of guidance.

"Absolutely, I will teach you Clark. It would be awesome if you could fly too, think of all the places we could go in seconds. We could do all sorts of things, even if that's only a tiny bit more than we're capable of now." Buffy was excited that he wanted to try. She hoped he was capable of flying and all he needed was practice, they would see.

They were both tired from their long day and from waking up so early, _even if it was glorious_, so Clark stood up and walked with Buffy around to the front door. Buffy unlocked the door and welcomed Clark in behind her. She closed and locked the door behind him and he looked at her.

"Am I staying here with you tonight Buffy?" Clark was hoping to, but wanted to make sure.

Buffy kicked off her shoes and walked over to him, "I would like that very much." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, her tongue invading his mouth playfully. His arms slipped around her hips and pulled her to him. He kissed her hungrily back. They had had a wonderful and stressful day put together and Clark was happy to be back here with Buffy, losing himself in her kisses and soft touches.

Clark pulled back and shrugged off his jacket, laying it on the couch, before removing his boots. Buffy led the way to her bedroom down the hall and started taking her clothes off. Clark followed her lead and took his clothes off too. They were both yawning by the time their naked bodies hit the bed. He laid on his back and pulled the covers over them as Buffy nestled into the crook of his side and rested her head on his chest, her fingertips tracing small circles on his skin.

Although the day had entailed flying, vampire slaying, and run-ins with evil exes, Buffy only concentrated on the normalcy of their day. She had truly enjoyed walking around the city with Clark, holding hands and being a couple. Her life had always kept her from having those moments and she was delighted to have them finally. And have them be with someone like Clark.

"I had a really good time today Clark. I liked doing normal couple things with you, I never had time for that in the past." Buffy thought about all the restrictions of her past relationships and all the things that kept her from being completely happy with Angel, Riley, and Spike. There had always been a catch.

"Me neither. My life was always with the drama and brooding. You and me, though, we fit. Even though we have our dark sides and our secrets from the world, when we are together everything makes sense. I'm so comfortable with you, I can say and do anything with you and you won't run away." Clark rubbed Buffy's arm as he told her the truth. He was holding back a little. Although it felt like they had always known one another, it really had only been a few days and he didn't want to drop the love bomb on her yet, even though he knew he was falling in love with her, _or had already fallen in love with her._

Buffy looked up at him, her chest pressed against his, "I won't ever run away Clark. These last few days have meant so much to me and suddenly the idea of spending the next unforeseeable amount of days with you, being in your arms, holding your hand, laughing together, fighting the evil of the world together, it seems like the most natural thing I'm ever going to do. It sounds crazy, I know. And it's laughable that I'm acting like some impulsive, hormonal teenager, but I'm not. I just know that this is right." She was scared at having such strong feelings for someone that wasn't bad for her, this was new, Clark was special and Buffy knew it. Their magnetism was more intense than anything she had ever felt and she was falling hard for him. _At this rate, I'm going to spew love vomit all over him in no time. Or something less metaphorically gross, eww Buffy. _

Clark's heart swelled at her admission, _unforeseeable amount of days with me_. He loved the idea of spending the rest of his life with someone as amazing as Buffy, but knew that time and the bad of the world always took the most important things away from him. What if she was safer without him? What if being with him was just going to get her hurt? He had done his best to keep these thoughts from invading his mind and he knew better, but he couldn't help it. He could never bear it if something happened to her because of him.

Buffy noticed the sudden change in Clark's demeanor and recognized those worried stares off in the distance. She leaned up further and placed her hands on his cheeks, brushing the hair from his eyes, "Clark, look at me."

As soon as his eyes focused on her, she continued, "Stop it. Whatever it is that you're doing in there, it's not going to happen. You're probably thinking it's safer for me to not be with you or that something, somehow is going to ruin everything and make me hate you. I know because I've been there, my mind was filled with those worries my whole life. And you know what? I'm done. We're both strong enough to keep ourselves and each other safe. We've been through enough shit over our lifetimes to a) be prepared and b) deserve a chance at this thing called happiness. So, stop it. We're not going to play this game and wind up walking away from what could possibly be the best thing that's ever happened to us. Got me?"

Buffy knew she was being stern, she just wanted him to know how serious she was about making this work and for the long haul. She had been victim to destructive thinking for most of her life and she wasn't going to let it ruin them. Not when he meant so much to her.

Clark's eyes widened at Buffy's scolding and he was surprised that she knew exactly what he was thinking. He ran his hand through her hair and cupped her cheek, "I've got you."

He pulled her face closer to his and lay a small kiss on her lips, "It's funny that you knew, I should have guessed you had been there though. We really did have similar lives didn't we? What with the pushing away, loss, and inevitable doom? You're right, we deserve a shot at this. You and me. Together."

"Exactly, you and me, together." Buffy's smile widened, "So, Clark Kent, will you be my boyfriend? Or partner? Or person that I share everything with?"

Clark laughed and kissed her, "Absolutely Buffy. All of the above and more, I want to be your everything. Will you be mine?"

Buffy thought about what that meant and found that the butterflies in her stomach had found their wings again. _His everything?_ Spending nights together, smiling and laughing together every day, working and saving lives together, being each other's best friends and lovers. _Yeah, sounds like a pretty sweet deal!_ "Of course Clark. I'll be yours. If not for any other reason than because you're the sweetest, most normal non-human being I've ever met."

He chuckled at the label, realizing how perfect it was, "I guess pull off the farmer from another planet guise pretty well, huh?"

"Oh, yeah you do." Buffy kissed him again, this time deepening the kiss and shifting her body on top of his. The contradiction of how light she was with how much power she had excited Clark. She covered him with her warmth as she kissed him. His arms encircled her body as he held her to him. He loved the feeling of her fingers in his hair as she kissed him. She loved the feeling of his hands on her back he held her to him.

She kissed his cheek and then his chest before she laid her head on his chest. He kissed her head and continued rubbing her back.

"I could stay like this forever, with you." Buffy admitted aloud. Even if it was crazy that they had just met and that she already loved him. She didn't care. She wasn't going to mind game herself out of feeling happy, not this time.

"I know Buffy, I know." He smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her temple before resting his head back onto the pillow. They lay silently for a while and Clark heard Buffy's breathing get heavy, knowing that she had fallen asleep. He smiled in the dark, seeing her sleeping form in the moonlight, knowing that he loved her and was never going to let her go.


	31. Chapter 31

**Author's Note:** First, thank you all for the encouraging reviews! I am so glad you are enjoying the story. Keep them coming! Second, I apologize for the lengthy update delay. Thank you for staying with me and showing interest despite the lack of updates. Here are some new chapters, building up to some conflict. I hope you enjoy the new chapters and there is more to come – SpikedRose09

Chapter 31

Lex, settled comfortably at his desk on the executive floor of LuthorCorp plaza, could not stop thinking about Buffy Summers and her association with Clark Kent. He needed to know Clark's secret, and he was willing to do anything to expose it. But how? They had known each other for years and he felt no closer to finding out now than he did when Clark pulled him out of that Porsche so long ago. She was the key. If he could get at Buffy somehow, he could unravel everything.

He swiveled his chair to face the window and steepled his fingers in front of his pursed lips. _How to isolate Buffy and get her to talk? Hmm…_ Lex pondered his options carefully. He had always had his suspicions that Clark could be one of the Kryptonians that came out of the black spacecraft when the meteors hit a couple of years ago. Clark had a penchant for being at the right place at the right time, for saving people, for achieving the impossible. And he always had a quick excuse ready for why strange things happened around him. It all started to make sense when the meteor shower hit a couple of years ago and those beings came here, intent on conquering earth. _Or whatever their agenda was_. Lex was still hazy on exactly what happened when they showed up and where they went. Lana shared some of what happened at the mansion with him, that they were strong, but that the green meteor rocks weakened them. She was knocked out and when she came to, they were gone. He still had the ship in his warehouse for observation, but nothing else has happened since it landed. No other warriors from another planet.

The whole experience was reifying for Lex that he was supposed to save Earth from the impending invasion. He was going to be Earth's savior. Why else had he survived so many mortal injuries? Why had he never gotten sick? Why was he always the one at the center of the meteor showers? _Yes,_ he thought, _I will save all of them, no matter what I have to do to that little Buffy Summers. _His lips curled knowingly, only he knew how dark and twisted he could become when he was obsessed with something. _Obsessed? Ha! This is more than an obsession, this is about saving the world_. He felt justified in any means required to achieve the ends of saving the world from alien invasion. _Lana_, he was going to protect Lana.

She had told him about their weakness. In his father's catatonic state, he revealed the name of the travelers to Lana, Kryptonians as well as their weakness. He called the meteor rocks Kryptonite and it weakened them somehow. Lex had been refining meteor rocks for years because of their peculiar effects on a range of subjects: humans, animals, crops. But now he had an arsenal of Kryptonite in its raw and refined forms to use how he pleased. It made Lex feel more in control knowing that they had a weakness. A weakness that he could exploit.

Lex sat still for a long while contemplating his role as savior and protector, when the phone rang. It was his chief security officer, he was keeping tabs down at the docks in an attempt to protect Lex's latest business venture.

"What?" Lex said quietly into the receiver.

"Mr. Luthor, we've been keeping an eye on the docks and have witnessed some strange behavior over the last couple of weeks that you should know about. A report should be in your inbox sir." Thoroughness was a necessity if you were working for the Luthors, no observation left unnoticed.

"Got it." Lex hung up abruptly and turned on his laptop. He had recently begun subsidizing some scientific research on synthetic blood development. Along with his genetic and cloning research, synthetic blood would be a good addition to his medical initiatives. Lex spared no expense setting up the lab at the primary investor's preferred location that was near the docks and he has been surveying the area to secure his investment. He pulled up the inbox easily and opened the report. Apparently, the lab showed no movement during the daytime. Ever. At night, presumed associates of the investor lingered around the lab and went inside with people dressed as if they just left Club Atlantis. But the club goers never left. _Strange_, Lex thought. He didn't recall any underground tunnels leaving the lab, _where were they going? _

Lex did not like not knowing what was happening. His calm about being Earth's savior quickly dissipated as he realized he was in the dark about what was happening down at the docks. He angrily speed dialed his security officer back.

"We need more security at the docks. Put our satellites over the whole area and bring in the bugs, get them inside. I need to know what's going on in there. If any direct action is necessary, I'll take care of it myself. Are we clear?"

"Yes Sir."

Lex stood as he hung up the phone and approached the window. He placed his palm on the cold glass, the heat creating a hand-shaped fog ring. His thoughts quickly returned to Clark and Buffy. On so many occasions, he had closed in on Clark's secret only to be left wanting, to be left more damaged than before. Now she was in his life, what did she have that Lex didn't? They had been best friends, _why wouldn't you just trust me? We could have been brothers!_ The thought of Clark's betrayal made Lex's blood boil. His anger only surpassed by the fact Lana had been so jealous of Clark's new toy.

_How could she still care about him? I've done everything for her, I would do anything for her_. Lex realized a long time ago that winning over Lana would require a good deal of manipulation, something he was a master at thanks to his father. It was a slowly won battle and now that he had her in his life, in his bed, he was not going to let anything take her from him. Especially not the ghost of her first love. _No_, Lex seethed inside. _She is mine. Forever_.

Yet he knew that she would never really be his. All the manipulation and lies that brought her into his life concealed his true self, his true nature from her. She would only ever know and love the Lex he wanted her to see and for that, he would never truly know if she was his. _Even with all the lies though, Lana was Clark's wholly and completely._ He slapped his other hand onto the window, relishing in the stinging feeling as it crossed his palm. He hung his head down tracing the patterns in the carpet with his eyes, then lifted his eyes slowly to the skyline. The only way to ensure that Lana would stay his was to break Clark. To break him and kill Buffy Summers. The reflection of his growing smirk stared back at him and he knew that it was going to be easy. _Oh, so easy_.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The morning sun was slowly creeping onto Buffy's table at The Talon. She closed her eyes feeling the sun against her skin, imagining how it must feel for Clark to absorb such powerful energy all the time. With her eyes still closed, she pictured waking up this morning wrapped in Clark's arms. His strong, safe arms. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, prolonging the memory of them entangled. When she opened her eyes, her steaming latte and computer screen greeted her. The blinking cursor in the document she had opened taunted her playfully.

The Talon was pretty busy this early in the morning. They had the caffeine-addicted high schoolers late to homeroom and various main street employees trickling in for their morning fix of sugar. She had come to enjoy watching them, the civilians. She had always wanted a normal life, she enjoyed watching them rush from here to there, motivated by the things in life that made it worth living. They may not shoulder the responsibility that Clark and she must because of their abilities, but they shoulder the burdens of humanly love, loss, anger, resentment, and forgiveness. Each day they grasp onto the things that keep them whole and make them compassionate. _The hardest thing in this world is to live in it._ Buffy blanched at the memory of saying her last words to Dawn before jumping off the tower to save the dimensions from collapsing on each other. She did it to save her loved ones and to save the world. She realized, after enough time, that it had been such a human thing to do.

Her feelings of hopelessness when she was brought back were a distant memory to her now, a momentary sting she felt when thinking about Joyce, not the encompassing curiosity for death she had so long ago. And now that she had Clark in her life, she didn't feel so lost. With him there was a light and a hope that she had not had in previous relationships. Most of her life she had been surrounded by darkness, death, and loss, which tainted her ability to have healthy partnerships. Clark wasn't restricted by the daylight, he was the daylight, he wasn't a slave to his demon, he was a savior. Angel, Riley, and Spike had all saved the world in their own ways, but they still suffered in the darkness, beholden to their beasts and demons. Clark was so unlike them that Buffy wondered how she was going to function without all the evil demon drama. For a long time she felt as if she was repeating the same patterns, the same routine: guilt, shame, guilt, shame. She was living in a self-imposed constant state of crisis, _how exhausting!_ She could finally feel alive and in the light again without feeling ashamed. The last time she felt this way was in heaven with Joyce. Even though she was dead, she could rest and just be, in loving warmth surrounded by light. While she had managed to attain a sense of gratitude for being given another chance, she couldn't deny that she had continued searching for that feeling of acceptance.

She smiled as she started typing her thoughts, knowing that Clark was now her home, her solution to the worries of her past. She was no longer repeating a pattern, she was breaking it and starting anew. Her thoughts raced in her mind, almost too fast to be typed for the record she had been keeping since she left Scotland. Her fingers tapped furiously. She could type faster, but needed to maintain the appearance that she was just a talented typer and not a meta-typer.

Clark was at the farm completing his chores. _Chores?_ Clark thought it was funny that he still thought of them in that way. He guessed it made him feel closer to his dad, to his life before the farm was torn apart by tragedy. Even though he hadn't been using the farm equipment, he kept them maintained in case they ever decided to sell. _Sell_. Clark had always known this was his home, but what if it held too many bad memories? What if there would come a time when they would decide to move on? The thought of leaving the farm, the only home he had ever known scared him. He wondered about his mom. _Would she ever sell?_ He doubted it, but for now it was probably better for her to be away from the farm. She needed more time to heal and the Senate was doing a good job of keeping her distracted.

Clark finished up in the barn and went to the house and sat on the porch stairs looking across to Buffy's house. _How long would she stay here?_ She had the ability and means to live anywhere in the world, why would she stay in Smallville? _Because of me. Because of us_. Clark smiled at the thought of Buffy staying to be with him. They could travel the world in a second and still be able to come home. To have a home. Why else would she have bought a house somewhere that reminded her of home if she didn't crave a home, _right?_ Clark didn't know what was going to happen in the future, but he knew that he wanted her to be a part of it. Them together, he desperately wanted it to work. He loved her. It was strange to say in his mind but he knew without a doubt that it was true. He loved Buffy Summers. She challenged him and inspired him in ways that no one ever had. His smile overtook his face, he couldn't wait to see her again.

Buffy was almost done writing her thoughts for the day, some old and some new, when her cell phone started vibrating on the table next to her. _Clark_, the caller ID read.

"Heylo?"

"Hi Buffy. What are you up to?" Clark knew he could've blurred over there, but he wanted to give her space too.

"I'm just finishing up some writing at The Talon. What are you doing?" Buffy started packing up her things, she wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him. _Pretty much now_.

"I'm done with the farm for the day and was hoping to see you soon. I was thinking about the flying thing and I think I'm ready for you to show me how. I'm not promising anything, but I'm willing to try." Clark picked as his nails as he thought about zooming into the sky with abandon, part scared out of his mind and part exhilarated.

Buffy's eyes brightened at the thought of teaching him something. He was so meta that she looked like a rookie, so the idea that she could help him at all was exciting. "Of course, Clark. I would love to show you. Wanna meet in Chandler's Field in a minute?"

Clark took a deep breath and answered "Yes, I'll see you soon."

Buffy slipped her bag over her shoulder and walked outside. Everything had quieted down on main street as the day was intent to move on. She went to the alley behind The Talon and made sure she was alone before her feet left the ground. She flew seamlessly through the air and landed at the windmill quickly. She sat with her arms leaning on the metal railing and looked out toward the Kent farm. A faded line rushed toward the windmill and Clark was suddenly sitting beside her, his feet dangling next to hers.

"Hi baby." Clark's grin at seeing Buffy took over his whole face and he kissed her. His hand curled into her hair and he deepened their kiss. Their lips melded together and their tongues kneaded against each other. With their eyes closed, every touch and feel was heightened and it was driving Buffy crazy. She pulled away suddenly.

"Oookay. Pause. We can do this later, you know, the nookie. For now, let's see if we can get you in the air." Buffy hated separating from those god-like lips, but they had some training to do.

Clark pouted at her and leaned back on his arms. "Fine Master Buffy. You get to do whatever you want to me now as long as I get to do anything I want to you later." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She laughed aloud at how horny he was…_all the time_. "Yes, yes. Anything you want my super-sexy manfriend." The thought excited her and made her slightly wet. 'Anything you want' for someone like Clark Kent could really lead to endless possibilities.

Buffy stood up. "So when Willow taught me how to fly she flew me around first, kind of like tandem parachuting. Without the parachute."

"Willow can fly?" He only thought witches flew on broomsticks or on a full moon or something. He really had no idea about witches and laughed to himself, _broomsticks, Clark. Really?_

"Yes, she can do a lot of things. Flying and teleporting are a couple that she used to help me. So we would fly and then she would let me go and see what happened. I fell a lot in the beginning, not my finer moments. But eventually I was able to propel myself without her help. From what I understand from what you've told me, you can super jump and it feels like flying, but other than the force you jump off with, you cannot produce more force once in the air? Is that right?"

Clark lifted one hand and twirled Buffy's hair around a finger, thinking about the nature of his jumping. "That sounds pretty accurate. I can jump high, but then I just fall. I usually don't feel much control on the fall either, I can't drive myself too far one way or the other. I just try not to obliterate silos or houses or anything."

"Hmm. Well how about you jump from here down and then use the ground to trampoline yourself up into the air. Let's see what happens." Buffy wanted to see the jump so she knew what she was working with.

Clark exhaled and contemplated the jump before he did it. He looked at her, his eyes glaring at her for second and then he smiled and jumped down. When he landed he quickly reappropriated his force to propel him up. Buffy flew alongside him as he went into the air. They were going so high that she thought there was the possibility that he would just focus and keep on. But he petered out and starting falling, the frustration and fear obvious in his eyes. She flew with him down a ways, "Focus, try to push yourself up again." Buffy coached him, the air pushing against her hair as they fell.

Clark was really trying, but he couldn't focus hard enough. The velocity of the fall was distracting him and he just kept tumbling down. Before they reached the ground Buffy grabbed him and floated them gently down the rest of the way. Clark was frustrated. "See what I mean! I just can't manage to stay up there like you do." He started pacing, angry that he was defective.

Buffy crossed her arms and looked at him, trying to figure out what it was. For the rest of the morning they tried a range of training techniques that had helped her gain control of not just the flying, but her other powers too. He was familiar with most of them because his dad had always helped him, especially when he was younger and his powers scared him. But it was different being able to keep pace with someone like Buffy during the training. She could really push him, especially when it came to flying and speed. They tried lift-off together, they tried throwing him into the air, they tried a sequence of super jumps, they tried everything. Still, though, he could not fly.

Back on the ground after what felt like a hundred failures, Clark leaned on his knees, defeated.

"What if there is something missing here? Something from your Kryptonian side? Like a cheat code or something that you need in order to fly?" Buffy paced around him. She knew where her power came from and they both knew that his came from the sun. But also that his powers didn't start all at once, they kind of developed over time. He had to hone them and train in order to control them, flying likely had the same restrictions.

"I mean, your other powers didn't come all at once and they took time to settle. Flying might be the big cookie that takes longer to bake," _again with the cookie analogies Buffy? Ugh, be more awkward. _

Clark considered the thought for a minute and stood up. His jeans were smudged with dirt and his shirt had been stretched by the wind, his dark hair windblown and achingly sexy. He looked up at Buffy, "Remember how I mentioned Jor-el, the disembodied voice of my Kryptonian father?"

Buffy nodded slowly, still vague on the whole thing, "Yeah in the ice castle whoziwhat, right?"

Clark chuckled at her, "Right. Well, since the stones created the fortress he's been trying to get me to stay and train. But a few years ago he trapped me there to train. He kept me in suspended animation for 3 months and downloaded me with all kinds of Kryptonian knowledge. When I was released, I was a different person. I was Kal-el completely with no memory of my Earth life and no human compassion. It was not awesome to say the least. Eventually my mom brought me back, but I've been pretty skittish about the whole training thing since."

Oh how Buffy could understand. She sat down on the ground, leaning on her knees. Clark sat down across from her crossing his legs and picking at the grass between them. Buffy started, "You know this whole slayer thing was kind of a shock. One day I was head cheerleader and May Queen and the next I'm covered in cemetery dirt and vampire dust. Don't breathe that stuff in by the way, uber-nasty. Anyhow, I was a normal human, yes slightly vapid and self-indulgent, but human girl before I got all chosen. It was a wakeup call and I did not take well to training, ever. My first watcher, Merrick," it had been so long since she thought of him, "he died saving my life from the first big bad I faced. I denounced the slayer part of me when we moved to Sunnydale as a result and decided I was going to be a normal, human girl again. Short-lived I must say. Giles, my next watcher, got me back into the game and trained me. I was resistant to the chosen, destiny bit for a long time, especially because he and the Watcher's Council wanted to keep me under their control. I was the one girl in all the world and they needed to keep an eye on me. At one point, when I turned 18 they drugged me, took my powers, and locked me in a house with an insane vampire."

Clark's eyes widened, "They were supposed to teach you and protect you, are you kidding me?"

"Nope, not kidding. It was one of the scariest nights of my life. After that I quit being under the control of the Council and Giles was fired. So the two of us reconciled and figured out a comfortable freelance routine. We got the job done without all the patriarchal bureaucratic bullshit. A bunch of puffy shirted old men over in London giving me orders about saving the world, yeah right. They wouldn't survive one day on the ground. The point is, I fought against the system, but I still saved the world, died for the cause, and kept the people I love safe. I made a compromise to use my powers and abilities for good, train when I could be better, and do the right thing. I didn't need the Council to tell me to do all that and I certainly didn't need their brand of training to get to work. Maybe you haven't reached your compromise yet. You're scared of Jor-el taking your memory away again and it has caused you to avoid training or communicating with him, and for good reason. But, what if he doesn't realize that there is another way? That you are capable of doing both: training as a Kryptonian and living among the humans? If your destiny is be earth's savior, shouldn't you continue being a part of this world? He's from another time and place Clark, he can't know what you're going through and what you imagine for yourself on this earth unless you tell him."

Clark thought about everything she said. She was right. He could do both, he could accommodate the Kryptonian and human aspects of his life. He could learn more about his heritage and maintain his human perspective by living his life.

"I'm not sure he'll go for it. Jor-el is all destiny and sacrifice. But I'm willing to try." Clark smiled at her. The more she shared with him about her life, the more connected to her he felt. They were so similar in their struggles and he loved that they could learn from each other.

He reached over to where she was sitting and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her onto his lap. Her legs wrapped around his sides as he hugged her to him, his hair brushing against her neck. She placed her cheek against his soft hair and let her fingers linger on his cheek. Her skin smelled amazing, Clark thought, and he loved having her in his arms again, pressed against his body. Buffy was getting lost in their closeness; his strength and calm were intoxicating to her.

Clark pulled his head back to look at her, "Thank you. Your perspective on training and destiny really resonated with me and I feel more prepared to go talk to Jor-el about training. Maybe he can help get me in the sky, like you said. Will you come with me to the fortress to talk to him?"

Buffy was happy he felt comfortable enough to invite her to the fortress, "Of course Clark. When do you want to go?"

"How about tomorrow or the next day? I figure you want to get back to Metropolis today to check out that vampire situation and I was looking forward to going with you, if that's okay?"

Buffy smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's totally okay. It'll be nice to get back to work and have you by my side. I want to look around the docks, then we can patrol the rest of the city for a bit. Do you want a crash course in vampire slaying?"

Clark scoffed, "Well, if they try to bite me they're likely to get chipped fangs right?"

Buffy hadn't thought about it, but he was right. "Funny, if your skin can't be punctured then yeah, they would need some dental work. Well, let's cover the basics and then you can improvise. Decapitation is a popular method and you should be able to accomplish that in like 0.5 seconds. You wanna spar for a little while, I'll give you the slayer's manual to predictable vampire fighting skills?"

Clark laughed, "Let's see what you've got."


	33. Chapter 33

**Explicit warning:** This chapter contains explicit sexual interactions between Clark and Buffy. Please do not read if easily offended by graphic, erotic prose.

Chapter 33

As she moved to stand, he pulled her face back to his and kissed her. Her long hair tickled the sides of his face as their mouths melded together, their noses touching as they moved from side to side. His hands sneaked underneath her tank top, his fingertips caressing her soft skin and his thumbs gripping into her sides as they moved against each other. Buffy's hands were lost in Clark's hair as she grew restless in his lap, gyrating her sex down onto his crotch. He moaned into her mouth and could feel his dick pressing uncomfortably against his tight jeans.

Suddenly, Buffy put her hands on his chest and pushed him back, the loss of connection distressing them both.

"Let's finish this training stuff and then pick this up after," it took everything Buffy had to stop them, but she knew how horny she always felt after training and she wanted to wait. It would be so much better if they waited, _right?_

"You've been such a cock tease today, you know that?" Clark glared at her, pulsing his crotch against hers, punctuating each word.

"I promise, you'll like me more after we spar a bit. There's something about fighting that makes me hungry and horny, which has gotten more intense since my power-up. I just haven't had anyone to let it all out on, so you'll see."

They stood, reluctantly at first, and faced each other. For the next hour, Buffy played the vampire and Clark played the slayer. She showed him every move in the vampire handbook, none of which would ever actually threaten his life. He slayed her every time, using a combination of super speed and strength and he felt confident that he would best them no matter how old and powerful they were. They were still vulnerable at the end of the day. Between the punches and spin kicks, Buffy could feel herself growing more sexually frustrated and wet, she wanted him. She wanted him now.

As he rushed toward her, she ducked under his left hook and spun a low kick that landed him on the ground. She pounced on him, pretending to bite him and he let her this time. He could feel her hot breath on his neck and her blunt teeth sink into his flesh. She lingered too long this time, he couldn't just let her get up now, could he.

Clark effortlessly flipped them over and bit her on the neck in return, then sat up. "Now we're both vampire meat, right?"

She leaned up on her forearms, "Sure are." Her smile was nearly his undoing. Until he looked down at her chest and saw her nipples hardening through her shirt. Pure lust crossed his face and he attacked her mouth. He kissed her hard and pressed his full weight onto her, his hand gripping her breast. The palm of his hand rolling her tit in his hand, her nipple getting caught between his thumb and index finger. She could feel her whole body heating up, and as he tweaked her nipple she knew she couldn't hold it together any longer.

They went from being horizontal in Chandler's field to being vertical against the wall of Clark's barn loft, Buffy pressed against Clark's front. They were kissing each other feverishly, hands roaming all over each other's bodies. The world slowed down as they super-sped through the movements: Clark lifting Buffy up and pressing her against the wall, tearing at each other's clothes, Buffy throwing Clark into the hayloft. They were crazy for each other and flawlessly went from one position to the next in a haze. Buffy found the hay to be too itchy as they rolled around in it. With Clark beneath her, naked and pumping his solid dick up into her sopping wet pussy she floated them into the air. She held him tightly to her as he continued to fuck her, his eyes closed as he concentrated on the feeling of her tongue in his mouth and the tightening of her cunt muscles around his dick.

He opened his eyes, his face flushed and his hair messy from Buffy's tousling, and he looked at her through hooded eyes. Buffy's cheeks were pink and her hair was sticking to her neck and back with small pieces of hay poking out haphazardly, her moans growing louder as their bodies slapped together.

Clark opened his mouth, grinning slightly, "Come for me Buffy, I want to feel you lose it."

It didn't take much at all to push her over the edge. She screamed as multiple orgasms quaked through her body, splitting her apart. "Clark, oh my god!" She stared into his dark blue eyes and the visage of complete rapture on his face prolonged her orgasm while he increased his pace. The feeling of him using his super speed to pump his cock in and out of her pushed her into another, coma-inducing set of orgasms. Clark couldn't take it any longer and came hard inside of Buffy, he muffled his grunt of release into her neck as he held her to him, his arms wrapped around her waist. They were floating over the barn loft as Buffy collapsed onto Clark's chest, and they went crashing to the planked floor eight feet beneath them.

"Oompf!" Clark's bare ass hit the ground, the wood scraping against his back. Buffy was purring contentedly on his chest as he realized they were floating the whole time. He laughed quietly at the thought, floating and fucking carelessly through the barn, Buffy sleeping like a baby as they went crashing down. _Would only happen to us_, he smiled.

Clark stood, holding her to him and placed her carefully onto the loft couch, the sun streaming in through the loft opening. She was beautiful. The sun licked her tanned skin and she was glowing, her hair was a sexy mess that also sparkled in the sun. He kneeled next to her and looked at her closely. The slope of her breasts and her ribcage, the toned ab lines on her stomach, her hipbones that pointed to her pussy that gave him so much pleasure, her golden legs. His hand floated on her skin as his eyes surveyed her body. He started kissing her softly when she began to stir. Her eyes opened slowly to Clark staring back at her. She rubbed her hands into her eyes and looked back at him.

"Hi there," Clark smiled at her as her eyes trained on his. She reached a hand out to touch his face, feeling his cheek in her palm.

"Hi," Buffy could not believe how intense that was, she had never passed out from orgasming before. _Hopefully it won't be the last time_. Buffy had a stupid grin on her face and he started laughing at her. She shook her head and covered her face with her hands.

"You made us float, you know that?"

Buffy nodded, still covering her face, "Yes, I did that on purpose. Sorry about the fall. I'm guessing that's how I got here?"

"Uh-huh, you could have broken my beautiful ass and then where would we be? Hmm?" Clark looked at her cheekily.

Buffy laughed at him, "Too beautiful of an ass to be broken on my account. So sorry."

"I forgive you," Clark sat down next to the couch, leaning his face on his arm.

"That was the best sex I've ever had, I've never passed out before." Buffy was still recovering from how amazing that was. "And you used your super speed, that was super naughty." She squinted her eyes at him and poked him in the chest.

"I know. I figured I could try it with you, you could handle it. I didn't hurt you did I?" Clark's eyebrows knitted together, realizing that he could have hurt her.

Buffy kissed him on the forehead, "No hurting involved at all. It was like rapid-fire orgasm central in my vagina when you did that, so no, it was pretty epic. Maybe let's not pull that if we ever find ourselves flying higher than 10 feet though, okay? I don't want to pass out mid-flight and have us take out a farmhouse. At least not till you get your winged sneakers, okay?"

"Deal," Clark agreed.

Buffy propped herself up on her elbow, her hair falling over one shoulder. She was happy and he could see it in her eyes. He kissed her softly on the lips, lingering a second to rub his nose against hers, making her laugh.

"Buffy, I know we only just met, but I feel closer to you than I've ever felt to anyone. I know we still have so much more to learn about each other, and challenges to face. I want you to know," Clark's palm cupped Buffy's cheek as he continued, "I love you Buffy. I love everything about you." He felt vulnerable professing his love so early on, but he knew he couldn't contain it any longer. He had to tell her.

Buffy felt tears welling in her eyes, threatening to spill at any moment. She had often felt that the love in her life was always unbalanced. With Angel, she was completely in love with him, foolishly even, while he remained calculated and distant. Riley loved her, but couldn't handle that they weren't equals in strength and skill. Spike loved her with complete abandon and while she loved him deeply, it was overcomplicated because of their history. With Clark, she felt complete and balanced. Of course she loved him, she loved him like they had been together a lifetime and that made her even more sure of her feelings. They could have a meaningful life together, they could find ordinariness in their extraordinariness and they could work together to make the world a better place.

She leaned forward and kissed him. It was passionate and loving, not needy or demanding. It was soft and understanding, and in that kiss they both knew how she felt.

Pulling away, breathless, Buffy responded, "I love you too Clark. Who cares if we just met, we've waited long enough. Struggled long enough. Being with you is the easiest thing I've ever done."

Still naked, Clark slid up onto the couch beside Buffy and hugged her to him. They lost track of time, the world fading away around them as they hugged and stared the truth into the other's eyes. The sun cocooned them in warmth, giving them the opportunity to just be together for a length of time. They were unsure of how much time had passed when they heard a ringing coming from the house. Together they sat up, knowing they would have to get back to reality soon enough.

"We should probably get going soon. The sun will be going down in a couple of hours. It would be better if we could check out the docks before it gets dark," Buffy did not want to leave their love nest yet, but she knew it would be easier to scope out the docks during the remaining daylight.

Clark stood up, the curves of his muscles rippling in the sunlight. When she stood, she was much shorter than him and he lifted her up to look him straight in the eye, his hands around her hips. They kissed again and he put her down. They sped around the barn collecting their clothing and were soon back in the house, clothed and leaning against the kitchen island waiting for the coffee they just started to finish brewing. A few minutes later, they were sipping their coffee, looking at a map of the city when the phone rang again. It was Chloe.

"Clark, how'd the flying go? You airborne yet?" Chloe was excited that Buffy was teaching him how to fly. She was tapping away at her computer at the Planet, when she thought to call and check in on the super lovebirds.

"Unfortunately not, Chloe. We tried just about everything and I can't fly. We're going to talk to Jor-el tomorrow about training, maybe he knows something that I don't." Clark smiled at Buffy as she worked over the map.

Chloe's face fell, "I'm sorry to hear that Clark. At least for now you have Buffy to fly you if needed. I hope that Jor-el doesn't pull any of his daddy dearest crap. I'm sure you don't fancy being immobile for another three months. I know we wouldn't like it either."

Clark sighed, "I'm worried about his reaction too, but I'm hoping to appeal to his logic, something Kryptonians pride themselves on, we'll see. What are you doing tonight Chloe?"

Still clicking keys, researching recent LuthorCorp movement near the docks, she responded, "I'm looking at some recent maneuvering over at the docks. I'm thinking it has something to do with the vampire boss Buffy's interested in, but the guys involved look like Lex's lackeys. I'll keep an eye on it and let you know, are you two headed there tonight?"

"Yes, we're catching up on the layout of the area and then going before dark to look around. If you can stay online tonight, keep us updated about any movement, we'd appreciate it." Clark valued Chloe's spirit when it came to helping him follow leads, she was always there for him. He was happy that Chloe had their backs.

"Absolutely, Clark. I'll be at the Planet on tip-line duty anyway. I'll let you know if anything comes up. Bye!" Chloe chirped into the phone, never losing her stride at her computer.

Clark smiled and sighed at Chloe's abrupt exit. He went to Buffy and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, leaning over her shoulder to look at the map. "What did you find baby?"

Buffy loved feeling him all around her. "Well baby, I found that these warehouses by the docks have been refitted into laboratories and other businesses over the last year. This older map shows that these were all empty, condemned buildings until a year ago. This recent map reveals newly constructed labs, medical storage facilities, and shipyard manufacturing companies. The area has been pretty built up, any ideas why?"

"Chloe just said that some of the movement around there might be linked to LuthorCorp, maybe they have business interests in the area and have built it up. I'm not sure." Clark squeezed Buffy around her middle and kissed the back of her neck. "Let's go take care of these vampires and then come back here and cuddle."

Buffy was laughing as his kisses tickled her neck, "Cuddling Mr. Kent? Yes please." She turned around in his arms and bit his lower lip before exploring his mouth with her tongue. His lips were still pursed when she pulled away, "We've gotta go to work now, ready?"

They took their last sips of coffee, laced up their boots and flashed out of the house, Clark returned for a microsecond to lock the door, and off they went. Within seconds, they were a few streets away from the docks, walking hand in hand, glancing around nonchalantly and figuring out their approach. They still had about 45 minutes left of daylight as they moved closer to the docks. _Time to get to work_, Buffy thought.


End file.
